An Adventure of a Lifetime Pt1: Kyle in Kanto
by CoolWhipSD
Summary: Part 1 of 4. Shonna sets out for the Kanto region and her long awaited pokemon adventure. See all the antics she gets into when she meets the young trainer Kyle, who becomes her rival, best friend, and possibly something more.
1. The Finicky Feline!

**Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, or any part of it. I use the characters from the game and anime, as well as some of my own. Only those I've created do I claim any credit for. Enjoy the story.**

**x-x-x**

Episode 1: The Finicky Feline!

"C'mon Skitty, we gotta go!" I waited a while before calling again. "Here Skitty Skitty Skitty!"

I'd like to say the adorable pink fluff ball came running to my call, but alas it had the opposite affect. I saw the cat pokemon instead darting away from me. I chased after him, into my room. I checked the usual hiding places, until I caught sight of his tail peeking out from under the bed. I scooped him up without a second thought, ignoring his struggling.

He clawed and scratched; almost ripping the pink sweatshirt I was wearing with the pokeball design on it. I had to hold him out at arms length.

"Skit! Skitty!" He called out.

"Mom, I'm going now." I turned toward her as I spoke. As always, it was like looking into a mirror. People told me it all the time, but even I had to admit I looked like a carbon copy of her.

"Okay sweetie! Are you sure you're going to be okay though?" Mom asked as she handed me my pink tote bag.

"Yeah, I'll be fine, as long as this one calms down." As I said this, I opened the pokeball to return Skitty, and quickly taped it shut.

"Poor thing, he's so used to the lifestyle of a pampered pet, that I doubt he wants to be your first pokemon."

"Yeah I guess, but I don't have any other choice. I need to get to that ferry to the Kanto region. It will moor soon."

"Oh, well then don't let me keep you. You'd better get going."

"Okay, I'll miss you mom." I said this last part so softly, I almost couldn't hear myself. I then bolted out the door, taking off down the road.

**x-x-x**

The wind whipped through my long blonde hair as I stared out into the sea. The color of the water below was only a few shades lighter than my eyes. Pallet town was just ahead. I'd decided I was going to strive to be a pokemon master. I turned ten two years ago, but it's taken me that long to get my faithful house cat Skitty to come with me. I flipped my new trainer card around in my hand, thinking to myself. _I'm from Solaceon town, in the Sinnoh region. I'm on my way to the Kanto region to start my pokemon journey, because I have an uncle who's the gym leader in Pewter City. I figure that'll be an easy badge to get, so that's why I'm starting there. _An intercom blared around me, letting me know that the ferry had arrived at Pallet town_, I guess I'd better get going. I'm nervous and excited. This is the first steps of my adventure._

"Well Skitty, I think I should let you out for a while." I pressed the button to the pokeball, only to be greeted with a quick scratch attack to the face. "Geez Skitty! Stop it! Return!" The glow from the sphere pulled Skitty back into the container. "Well. That didn't work like I thought it would."

**x-x-x**

The ramp was brought over so everyone could unload off the ferry. I waited until most of them had, trailing to the back of the line. I'd let Skitty back out, and he followed, if only to chase a thread hanging from my jeans. Any distraction was good though, to stop him from clawing at me. Looking around, Pallet was really a peaceful looking town. Small, much like my hometown. "So this is where a lot of trainers start their journey." I muttered, looking to the pokemon lab on my right. There was a line of young kids, some with their parents, waiting to get in.

I thought about getting in line with them, to see if I could get one of the starters, but as I walked by, people gasped. I watched eager ten year olds' faces sour at the sight of my scratched up face and the bouncy Skitty trailing behind. I even heard one of them say they didn't want a pokemon anymore as he left the line for Professor Oak's lab. It was a pity really. I mean, I'm sure his pokemon would have been more enthusiastic. I was promised a pokemon at ten as well, from our local Professor Rowan. But that only pertained to if I had stayed in the Sinnoh region. As I looked down at Skitty, who was beaming with pride, I continued to walk on through the tall grass toward Viridian City. Something darted in front of me. Something violet colored. Its curled tail was sticking up out of the grass.

"Look up ahead Skitty. A rattata. Go get it." I whispered.

The pink fluffball simply curled into a ball and yawned. But the rattata scurried by, startling Skitty from his slumber, and a twinkle came into his eye as he pounced after the rodent. I was stunned, as I watched him lay waste to all the pidgey and rattata in the area.

"Yeah great job Skitty! This is a great place for you to train." I ran up to hug him, but as the kitten turned to glare at me, it became apparent he was only going off prey instinct, and not my orders. "Gosh Skitty," I sighed. "I know you're not enjoying this, but it's really important to me. So please? For me?"

Skitty simply turned his head in distaste before pressing his tail to his pokeball. Returning himself.

_I hope I can make it up to him someday._ For now all I could do was continue to Viridian City, alone.


	2. The Filthy Meowth!

**x-x-x**

Episode 2: A Filthy Meowth!

I arrived in Viridian City quicker than I had expected. After inspecting the shops and stocking up on supplies, I stepped outside to begrudgingly face Viridian forest. But before I could take a single step a flash of beige and a sparkle of gold streaked past me. It was quickly followed by streaks of black, gray, and purple.

A meowth was being chased down an alley by a trio of dog pokemon. The houndoom, mightyena, and granbull cornered the scared kitten. The meowth backed up into a turned over metal garbage can, with nowhere to run. And as the rock I threw hit the granbull's head, they turned to see the Skitty I withdrew, who looked just as surprised as they did. While Skitty kept them distracted, I snuck up to the meowth who was now covered with garbage and dirt.

"There there. It's ok. Just hop in this ball, and I'll be able to get you to safety. Don't be scared, you can trust me."

She must have been able to see I was telling the truth, as she pressed her paw to the pokeball and was sealed inside. I didn't have time to relish in my odd capture of a meowth, but in my head, I squealed with delight.

I ran for the closest pokecenter, holding open the door. "Skitty! Return!" I called him back just as the mightyena had him under his paws.

The massive dogs ran at full force toward me. They sped with agility until… "Wham!" They collided with the glass doors of the pokecenter I had taken cover behind. Granbull's smushed in face looked even worse, as his slimy tongue trailed down the glass. The irony was too much for me as I held up a bottle of windex in delight.

"Windex! For a streak-free shine every time!" I noticed in the corner of my eye everyone in the center turn to stare at me.

I put on a smile and walked up to the front desk happily. Sometimes I let my quirkiness get the best of me, but it never bothered me what people thought about me. "I need my pokemon healed please!" I said as I handed the nurse my two pokeballs.

"Okay, no problem. Just give me a second." She stuck them on a machine and within seconds, a chime rang out. "All done." She smiled as she handed them back to me. "You're going to stay in the center right? It's almost nightfall."

"There's something I have to do first, but I'll be back before then." I said pleasantly as I walked out the door.

That something, was a bath for my meowth. Though her injuries were healed, she was still very dirty from being chased into garbage. I released her to scrub her in a nearby pond, and when I finished her bath, I noticed how astoundingly adorable she was. She had large blue eyes I'd never seen on a meowth, and a full coat that gleamed. She was the type of pokemon that would win a contest hands down. Though I wasn't really into those. She looked like royalty, and though I never thought I'd do this, I decided to nickname her Duchess. She purred happily as I gently polished the coin adorning her head.

"Well, I guess it's time you meet my other cat friend." I said as I released Skitty. "Say hello to Duchess, Skitty!"

Skitty looked disgusted before quickly throwing a scratch attack at Duchess's coin. Duchess began to tear up before letting loose into an all out cry.

"Skitty! How could you? Return!" I recalled him quickly. I picked Duchess up trying to comfort her, but her whines persisted. Finally she pointed with her paw to call attention behind me. I turned to find the dog trio again snarling at me. "Not you guys again! Can't you just leave us be?"

It was an obvious no as they gave chase. I ran with Duchess in my arms until I spied a gym ahead. "A gym! Let's hide in there!" I reached for the handle only to find it locked. The houndoom seized the opportunity and pounced on me, knocking Duchess out of my arms and into a nearby signpost. As the beast pushed me to the ground, I cried out for her to run. But suddenly, a bright orange dog jumped into the middle of the conflict. A growlithe. _Great. _I thought. _Another dog, just what we need._

The growlithe turned toward the granbull and mightyena and stared them down before the attack.

"Growwwwwwlithe!" The roar attack was enough to scare the other two dogs off, but not the houndoom. They glared at each other before both releasing a mighty ember attack. The embers merged into a giant fireball that was pushed into the houndoom, knocking it out. It was a very strong growlithe, and obviously not wild. As I watched from the ground Duchess rubbing and purring around the growlithe to thank it, a hand reached out to me. I looked up to see a handsome young man, with brown hair, and green eyes that matched the jacket he was wearing. He had a poke ball affixed to a necklace he was wearing, and wore glasses, like me.

"Are you all right?" The boy continued to hold out his hand to help me.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I took his hand and felt a flash of heat flush across my face.

There was a brief moment where we stood and stared at each other, before it was interrupted by the sirens of Officer Jenny's motorcycle coming toward us. As I turned to look, the guy took off toward the forest, the growlithe following close behind. Duchess looked up at me in confusion.

"Hey wait!" Jenny called out. "Darn, didn't even see who it was. I just wanted to thank him. This houndoom and his friends have been causing all sorts of trouble here." She loaded the houndoom into the side cart of the vehicle. "But not anymore! He's going to come train with me and be a police dog. He'll learn to fight crime instead of cause it." She laughed as she took off, houndoom in tow.

I leaned against the pokecenter wall, tired. A piece of paper fell as I did this, and when I went to pick it up it read like this: "Missing: Kyle Gray, Age 14, Believed to have run away, Please contact Debbie Gray with any information, 606-876-2107." The picture attached was a recent photo of the young man I had met just seconds earlier.

_Kyle Gray. I could turn him in. But he helped me out, so I guess I should give him a break. Besides, he was really cute._

Duchess mewed at me curiously. "Come on, Duchess. We've got a big day tomorrow. We're going through Viridian Forest."


	3. Flying Through the Forest!

**x-x-x**

Episode 3: Flying Through the Forest!

I opened the map of Viridian forest slowly, tracing a line on my projected path. Then I started tracing my own I had drawn onto the paper. "So, according to this I could follow the path and spend an exhausting amount of time in there with all those bugs, or I could cut through here with the path I drew." I glanced up for a moment staring into the forest crawling with bugs. "Well, that's easy." I ran at top speed through the forest in a straight line, screaming the entire time, until I emerged on the other side, tripping over a dilapidated sign to Pewter City. "Finally, I'm going to get my first badge!"

I skipped happily to the gym and flung the doors open wide. "Uncle Flint! I'm here!" I was immediately tackled by nine small children I'd come to know as my cousins.

"Cousin Shonna! Cuz!" The children rushed to the door to greet me.

"Uncle Flint, why'd you have to have so many kids?" I said overwhelmed.

The wrinkled man stepped out of the shadows in a fake beard and dirty red hat.

"Hey Uncle Flint! Why do you always dress like a hobo?" I asked.

"Geez, you're always on my case." He replied as he took off his disguise. "You know you just missed your cousin Brock."

"Brock? Really? I thought he was with those friends of his."

"He was, but he came back to visit everyone. While he was here he fought a trainer before he left."

"Oh yeah!" My eyes lit up. "That reminds me, I came for a badge, so if you'll just hand one over I can be on my way…"

"You thought just because we're family I'd let you have one? No way. You'll have to battle me for it." Flint stood unwavering.

"Are you kidding me? That's the whole reason I came to this region first though!" I saw the seriousness in his stance and knew I could not change his mind. "You know what? Fine. I'll battle you."

As the arena was set up, and I took my place on one side of the battlefield, I contemplated on who to choose. _Duchess is more likely to listen to me, but has less experience. Skitty is, well… Skitty._

"The rules are a one on one battle. The gym leader is not allowed to switch pokemon, although in this case that won't matter." Flint stated. "Go Onix!" He released the large rock snake-like pokemon.

"Great. Well, go Skitty!" I called before freeing the pink kitten. Upon seeing the Onix, he stiffened in fear.

"Your Skitty's scared silly!" Flint laughed. "Onix use Bind!" The rock pokemon scooped skitty up with its tail and squeezed it in a tight wrap. Somewhere, probably out of a burst of overconfidence, Skitty used Fake Out to claw at Onix, to no avail. It did nothing to stop Onix, and instead it tightened its grip on him. I couldn't watch Skitty cry out anymore.

"Stop! I give up." I said, tears welled up in my eyes at the loss. I scooped up Skitty in my arms, who had passed out.

Flint congratulated his Onix before confronting me. "Now Shonna, I suggest you go train some more before you try that again."

I knew he was right. I silently walked out of the gym before being startled by a familiar voice to my right.

"So, you lost. I figured as much." He said calmly.

"How rude." I turned to see the boy from earlier. He was leaned against a nearby tree. A pewter city badge adorned his green jacket.

"I hope you know this is a rock type gym, that means your little cats' scratches won't put a dent in the rock type pokemon here."

"Yes I know that!" I retorted.

"Well," He turned slightly toward me. "If you want my advice, there's some mankey just outside Viridian City, you should go catch one to use here.

I closed my eyes and thought. "Yeah, that makes sense. A mankey's fighting type moves can smash up rock type pokemon." I opened my eyes again to see the boy was gone. "A mankey," I whispered. "Gah! But that means I have to go through that icky bug-filled forest again!"


	4. Butterfree, Beedrill and Battles!

**x-x-x**

Episode 4: Butterfree, Beedrill and Battles!

"Oh man, I'm back in this crummy forest and I threw away my map." I side-stepped a nearby kakuna, hanging from a tree. _Where there were kakuna, there were my mortal enemy in the pokemon world. Beedrill. I'm absolutely terrified of them. Those awful stingers and stripes._ I shivered in fear. My thoughts however, were quickly interrupted.

"Hey you! We challenge you to a pokemon battle!" The voices called behind me. I turned to see two young boys staring with fire in their eyes. One had dark hair some kind of cloth around his head like Rambo, the other, spiky blond hair.

"You're right bro! She's got two pokemon!" Rambo boy said eagerly.

"Yeah! This time we'll have a proper double battle!" Spiky said.

The pair threw out a weedle and caterpie. I released Skitty and Duchess.

"Skitty, Tackle! Duchess! Use your Tail Whip!" I commanded.

"Caterpie! String Shot!" Spiky called out. The stringy mess covered Duchess's tail slowing her down. Skitty quickly tackled the caterpie. He bounced on the knocked out worm happily. I couldn't help but laugh at that.

"Weedle, use Poison Sting on the meowth!" Rambo boy called.

"Okay! Deflect it with your tail Skitty! Then use Scratch Duchess!" I commanded, confident in my strategy. Unfortunately, Skitty sat and yawned, unwilling to help Duchess. The Poison Sting hit its mark, poisoning Duchess.

"Yeah! Now Poison Sting the other one Weedle!" Rambo boy yelled.

As the sting headed toward Skitty, he swiftly flicked it away with his large tail.

"Skit… Ty!" The pink kitten swiped his claws across the weedle, knocking it out.

"We lost? Again?" The boys dropped their prize money before running off crying.

Skitty looked up at me, as if expecting praise. "Ty?"

"Yeah you won Skitty, but don't think I'm proud of you." I returned him to his pokeball and placed it back into my purse. I sat beside Duchess pulling an antidote out. "Don't worry Duchess. You'll feel better in a minute." I sprayed lightly on the wound, and as I was waiting for it to take affect, I felt as though someone was watching me. I looked around, but didn't see anything. Duchess came to and jumped into my arms gratefully. "There, all better, right?" I closed my eyes and chuckled. When I opened them again, I realized I was floating in the air. "What the?" I looked down at the trees below, then up to see a large butterfree carrying me across the forest with its long feet. "Hey you big bug! Put me down." The butterfly gently sat me down in a clearing. "Oh gee thanks." I said, surprised it had listened to me. But as I looked around, I saw a grave scene.

There were at least twenty metapod and caterpie scattered around. They had a purple flush across their face, indicating the poison in them. "What happened here?" I questioned. I sat Duchess down to investigate further, and as I walked around the clearing I noticed all the nearby trees had honey slathered around them and beedrill scratch marks.

"Free! Free!" The butterfree called. I turned to see the beedrill returning, and swarming toward me. I helplessly stood in fear. A beedrill flew toward me but I was tackled to the ground by the butterfree before it struck. The beedrill instead got its stingers stuck to the tree I was beside. The other beedrill surrounded me, Duchess and the butterfree. Unable to speak, I braced for the worst. Suddenly I heard Duchess hiss loudly before releasing hundreds of coins into the air. Each struck a beedrill, and the swarm quickly retreated.

"Wow Duchess, you learned Pay Day attack!" I pet the kitten happily. She purred in response. "I'm so glad they're gone. I don't why, but every time I see bee pokemon, I freeze up." I looked up at the butterfree. "Thank you both for helping me. I think I should return the favor and help out your friends." I pulled out the bottles of antidote I'd bought earlier. I made my rounds one by one helping the caterpie and metapod who had been attacked by the beedrill. And now that they needed my help, they weren't quite as gross as they used to be to me.

"There. All your friends should be feeling better in no time Butterfree." I watched as the butterfree happily flew over his friends. "But that's only part of the problem. We need to figure out why the beedrill are acting more…" I chose my word wisely. "Agitated then usual." The butterfree floated over, interested. "I think it has something to do with this honey on the trees." I walked over to the honey-soaked, slashed trees.

Suddenly a memory from Solaceon town flooded to mind. Our town has a local newspaper, and I remembered reading an article about honey in different regions. Many people slather honey on trees in the Sinnoh region to attract combee and vespiqueen pokemon. However, in the Kanto region, researchers had found that honey on trees doesn't attract rare pokemon at all, and actually infuriates beedrill, as they think that someone has stolen their honey.

"Well that's it. We gotta find whoever is doing this and let them know." I said, as I took off through the forest, following the path of honey-laden trees. Butterfree and Duchess followed close behind.


	5. Butterfree for Me!

**x-x-x**

Episode 5: Butterfree for Me!

We continued to follow the scratched up honey coated trees through the caterpie, metapod, and butterfree side, and into the enemy's territory, that of the beedrill. We quietly snuck by the kakuna hanging from the trees, until we came to a boy dressed in a navy blue outfit. In his hands was a large honey jar.

"Hey kid!" I whispered, as I walked a little closer.

"Huh? What do you want?" He asked loudly.

"Shh!" I looked around making sure none of the sleeping kakuna had awoken. "Kid you've got to quit putting honey on these trees. It aggravates the beedrill in this area."

"Nuh-uh! My friend from the Sinnoh region said it's the only way to get rare pokemon!" He once again answered loudly, pushing our luck with the kakuna.

I paused, then grinned. "Okay kid, the truth is that doesn't really work here. But my friend from Johto said that if you shake the trees real hard, that'll bring down the really rare ones! Look, there's a perfect tree for the shaking over there!" I pointed to the tree covered in hanging kakuna.

"Really? Awesome!" The kid ran to the tree in excitement.

"Now," I whispered to Duchess and Butterfree. "We run like mad." We took off to a safe distance away.

"Oh boy!" The boy feverishly shook the tree, and dozens of kakuna fell from the tree, releasing their shells to become beedrill. They gave chase after him as he ran out of the forest.

"A little mean, but effective." I laughed as we returned to the clearing with the caterpie and metapod. I wiped the honey from the last tree, and watched as the butterfree happily played with its friends. I picked up Duchess, who was in the middle of a game of tag with a caterpie, and quietly walked out of the forest, to the Viridian entrance. "We're out of the forest. I guess I'd better find a mankey now." I walked forward a step, when the butterfree from before floated in front of me.

"Free! Free!" The butterfree floated in circles around me.

"Butterfree? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be playing with your friends?" I smiled.

"Free Free!" The butterfly pokemon continued to playfully nudge and fly around me.

I smiled at how happy he seemed to be. And him being this close to me. It didn't scare me at all. _So now I suppose I'm only afraid of bee pokemon. I guess that's good. This Butterfree acts like it wants to be friends with me._

"Wow. Okay Butterfree. Do you want to come with me on my journey?"

"Free!" Butterfree nodded happily.

"All right. Hop in then." I said as I tapped the pokeball to it. The Butterfree swirled inside and the button on the ball enclosure flashed three times before fastening shut. "Yay! I got Butterfree!" I held up the ball in glee. "A butterfree eh? Maybe I don't need a mankey after all."


	6. Returning to Rumble the Rocks!

**x-x-x**

Episode 6: Returning to Rumble the Rocks!

I flung open the doors to Pewter City Gym once again. I confidently stepped inside with my head held high. I stepped into the ring on my designated spot, prepared for the battle that awaited. "Uncle Flint!" I called out. "I'm ready to challenge you to a gym battle! This time I'll win!"

I was immediately swamped by my overenthusiastic cousins once more.

"Cousin Shonna! Cuz! You're back!" They pounced again.

"Uncle Flint!" I cried. "Get them off me!"

My dear uncle stepped out of the shadows once more. "Children, get off her. Go play." The children quickly minded and ran off. "Now Shonna, I do hope you've brought something more suited to beat my rock pokemon this time."

"Oh I have. Don't worry about that." I snickered.

"Very well, This time I'll choose Graveler." He released the round rock-type. "Remember it's a one on one battle, so choose wisely."

I spun the pokeball on my finger before tossing it into the air. "Go Butterfree!"

Flint looked shocked, then laughed. "Oh Shonna, that's the best you've got? I ask you to bring me a challenge and you bring a bug?"

"You act like your worried." I said coolly.

"I'm only worried for your quest in being a good trainer my sweet niece. I suppose you'll have to learn the hard way about bad type match ups." Flint shook his head in pity. "Go Graveler! Squish that bug with Rollout!" The large rock tumbled down the ring toward Butterfree.

"Dodge." I stated as Butterfree gently floated up to avoid the attack. Graveler unraveled and looked up at the bug.

Flint clinched his fist in anger. "Graveler! Grab that thing!"

The graveler reached out to catch Butterfree, but he floated just out of reach.

"Now Butterfree! Sleep Powder!" I called out. Butterfree began releasing the thick powder onto Graveler. The rock slowly drifted to sleep. Uncle Flint looked utterly shocked. "Now Butterfree Tackle!" I laughed as Butterfree happily tackled Graveler across the ring like a toy ball.

"Graveler! Wake up!" Flint called out, stirring it from its slumber. "That's it. This ends now. Just try and dodge this! Graveler Rock Throw!" With that Graveler focused all its energy into lifting dozens of rocks from the ring into the air. It lifted its arms into the air in preparation of the throw. The rocks jiggled in midair, before swiftly flying to their central point, Butterfree.

"Butterfree! Confusion!" I commanded. And with that Butterfree glowed a bright purple. All the rocks stopped moving. They paused only for a second before being flung back at Graveler. Hitting the mark, they smashed into it. Graveler was looking dizzy and weak, and Flint looked just as stunned, so I seized the opportunity for a final attack. "Once more! Tackle!" Butterfree swooped down full force on the rock, making it bounce into the air, and all around the stadium. Once it finally came to rest on the ground, Graveler was beat. "Yeah! We did it!" I cheered. Butterfree floated around me in joy.

"I… can't believe it." Flint recalled his pokemon and walked down the ring toward me. "Very well. You really surprised me Shonna, but you won. Here is a boulder badge in honor of your victory." He handed the small rock shaped badge to me.

"My first badge." I said as I pinned it to my purse.

"But not your last. Good luck on your way to the pokemon league my niece. I know now you'll do just fine."

"Thanks Uncle Flint. I appreciate that." I waved as I walked out the door to the gym. This time with the badge I came for.


	7. Mt Moon Mayhem

**x-x-x**

Episode 7: Mt. Moon Mayhem

"Miss! Oh Miss! Wait!" A man called out as I stepped toward the entrance. He looked somewhat sleazy, but I turned to greet him.

"Yeah? What do you want?" I questioned.

"Well, I just wanted to show you this one of a kind Magikarp! It's a magical pokemon, very rare, so much so it had to have 'magic' in its name! And you can take this beauty with you for only 500 bucks!" He explained.

"Yeah right! I know about magikarp and how much trouble they are to train." I turned to walk away. "Did you really think I'd fall for that?" I huffed off to the mouth of the cave.

**x-x-x**

"Meowth, why'd we have to sell these maps again? I thought we were supposed to be following the twerps with Pikachu." James whined.

"Because the boss set us up with this special mission! This is a special Team Rocket bust and we get to be at the forefront! Reeling in the trainers!" The sly meowth spoke.

"What I don't get is why we can't be in there with all the action! There's a bunch of Rockets in there getting to do all the fun stuff while we're stuck in this heat." Jesse fanned herself.

"Would you dolts quit complaining? The boss is counting on us!" Meowth looked toward the girl walking their way. "Look, there comes another customer!

**x-x-x**

There, just ahead was a woman and man who had set up shop just outside the cave entrance. There was a meowth standing beside them, and their tourist outfits had name tags which read 'Jesse' and 'James'.

"Hello there young trainer!" Jesse cooed. "You wouldn't happen to be traveling through mt. moon, would you?"

"Actually I'm headed in right now." I smiled.

"Well!" James interjected. "We're from the Pewter City Tourism District and we're providing maps to trainers to lead them out of the cave safely."

"Oh that's great, I'll take one then." I reached down to pick one up, but they were quickly swiped by the meowth sitting on the table.

"They aint free girly!" The meowth blurted out. It quickly covered its mouth realizing it had blown its cover by speaking human language.

"Oh wow! A talking meowth! That's amazing!" I said, gently petting its head. Meowth happily purred in response. "You know, I have a meowth too. She can't talk, but she is awfully pretty!" I pulled out the pokeball to release her. "Come on out Duchess!"

Meowth stood and gazed as Duchess walked up to him.

"Now, Attract." I said in a low voice.

Duchess's coat gleamed and her eyes sparkled at she rubbed against Meowth playfully. You could see the hearts fly from Meowth as he threw down the maps.

"You can have them all…" He said, love struck.

"Okay, I think I will." I said as I picked up the maps. "Come along Duchess!" I said as I headed into the dark cavern.

Jesse, James, and Meowth stood stunned as Duchess waved bye teasingly to the Meowth, before taking off into the cave.

"I can't believe it! No one gets one over on Team Rocket! Lets go get her!" Jesse got up to give chase, but James held her back.

"Wait, think about it Jesse. She'll get what's coming to her, if she follows those maps. Let's just go and leave her to the other members." Said James.

"I guess you're right, let's go find the twerps. C'mon Meowth!" She grabbed the love struck Meowth and the pair took off for their hot air balloon.

**x-x-x**

"I don't get it. I've been following this map for hours but it only seems like I'm going deeper and deeper into the cave." I took a few steps forward and around a sharp stalactite. "Sure is getting darker. I wish one of my pokemon could help me." Duchess's paws were hurting on the jagged rocks. She picked-up a S.S. Anne ticket while she was out, which was a lot better than the usual potions, but still she had to be returned. None of the rest of my pokemon would fair much better. "Maybe if I caught a zubat… but I don't really like them." I sulked. Up ahead, was a tiny flicker of light. "There! That must be the way out!" I ran toward the light, but as I got closer I noticed it was more then one light, then I saw it was two lamps, then… a cage fell down and I felt someone swipe my bag. "Hey what's going on?"

A large man clad in black with a red 'R' on his shirt pulled the pokeballs from my purse and stuck them on a scanner. "Looks like a couple of cats and a bug. They won't fetch much but I guess anything helps." He laughed.

"Team Rocket's really getting short on cash to be pulling these kinds of trainer busts huh? But I must say, stealing the Mt. Moon artifacts was a bonus." Another member, who was much more skinny stepped out of the shadows.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing?" I shook the bars on my cage. "Let me out of here right now!"

The lanky member stepped toward me. "Hush up girl! We're just going to steal your pokemon."

"What? You can't do that!" I cried.

"We can and we have. Hey Joe! I'm going to go check on the other prisoners. I'd say this is the last of the trainers for a while, so lets round up the pokemon and go."

"Alright Jake. I'll bag these up and head on out." Joe said as he placed the balls in a large bag and lifted it high over his bulky shoulders.

Suddenly a small ember flew across the cave resting on the bag. "Hey do you smell smoke Jake?" Joe asked as he walked a ways down the cave.

"No, why?" Jake turned and gave Joe a look of horror.

"Hey what's wrong?"

"The bag's on fire!"

"What?" Joe turned to see the smoldering sack. "Ah jeez!" He threw the bag down. It fell with enough force to knock the pokeballs out. Joe stomped on the bag until the fire was out. "Great, now how are we going to carry all those balls?"

A low growl came from the back of the cave as a growlithe stepped into the light.

"Oh man!" Jake grew livid. "It's a growlithe man! The coppers must be here! Let's get out of here!" The pair took off in the opposite direction.

I watched as the growlithe stepped toward me and used bite to break through the bars. When I crawled out, Growlithe walked over to a set of keys hanging from the scanner. It gently lifted them in its mouth and brought them to me. I took hold of them and watched as it disappeared into the darkness. Somehow I knew that growlithe was not one of Jenny's.

After grabbing my pokeballs and putting them back, I one by one went through the cave returning the other pokemon, and freeing their trainers from the cages. I did eventually get to some researchers caged up who were overjoyed to have their nearby bag of artifacts back.

"Here." One of them told me as he handed me an odd yellow stone. "For saving us!"

"Oh no, I couldn't. Besides, I really didn't do anything." I said.

"Don't be so modest. Take it, because I can't do anything with it anyway. Only the Cinnabar Island Research Lab can bring out its full potential."

"Well, I will be headed that way." I said, taking the amber and placing it into my bag.

"It's settled then." The researcher, and the trainers, left in all different directions, leaving me with no clue on how to get out. I was exhausted, and decided to camp out right there for the night. It was cold and dark, but I was able to use the still somewhat smoldering bag to start a fire. I released Skitty and Duchess to explain something to them.

"Alrighty. Skitty, Duchess, I need you both to take turns watching the fire. It weakens Butterfree so it's up to you two." Skitty simply glared at Duchess before letting out a hiss at her. "Skitty! Stop it! I've had enough of your attitude! If you don't stop acting up I'm going to evolve you and change it myself!"

Skitty looked for the first time, wounded and sad. I was too tired to really care though as I lay down and covered up in my sleeping bag.

**x-x-x**

**(Pokemon translation in this section.)**

Duchess noted how awake Skitty was and seized the opportunity to curl up into a ball beside Shonna. Skitty merely glared in jealousy as he stared at the fire. Everything in him hated this. He wanted to be home, beside a fireplace, not by a damp cave's makeshift campfire. Why couldn't Shonna understand that? Everytime he tried to let her know, she simply brushed it off and called it him being mean. Perhaps he was a bit mean, especially to the meowth kitten. But he couldn't help it. A replacement kitten was not his idea of good company.

He curled up by the fire, not really caring if Shonna yelled at him for it. Soon, something soft and pudgy poked him. He raised up, startled. It was only a clefairy.

"Clefairy!" The pink blob called out. "What's the matter with you?"

"Skit! Skitty!" Skitty inched back away from the Clefairy. "None of your business."

"Fairy?" The clefairy held to its moon stone tight. "Well, you look unhappy. You should come to our ceremony! It'll be lots of fun!" The clefairy bounced away happily.

Skitty hesitantly followed. He looked back at Shonna and Duchess, then continued following the clefairy. They went to a hidden area in the cave. A large moon stone meteorite sat in the middle and clefairy were all around it picking up pieces and dancing. They chanted their names as they danced around the stone.

"Cle-Fairy! You came!" The clefairy handed him a piece of moon stone. "Try it! It's fun!"

Skitty took the moon stone in his mouth and danced with it. It made him feel happy too. But then a strange feeling came over him, and as he watched the clefairy change to clefable, he knew what was happening. He flashed a bright white, and couldn't stop what was coming. Maybe it was for the best though. He at least knew that it would make Shonna happy.

**x-x-x**

I yawned as I came to that morning, or at least I assumed it was morning anyway. It was too dark to tell. Duchess was curled up beside me, but Skitty was nowhere to be seen. The fire was blazing, but luckily not out of control. "Great, I was probably too hard on him so he ran away. Skitty! Skitty!" I called out. "Where'd you go?" I stepped forward before catching a glimpse of the long large tail. "There you are. C'mon on out, I'm not mad anymore."

"Del-catty?" The large purple cat pokemon stepped out before me, rubbing against my legs.

"What? No… but…Skitty." I knew what had happened. But it took a minute to sink in. Evolving changes everything about a pokemon, including their personality. This Delcatty was Skitty's obedient counterpart. It made me sad to think I had driven him to this. "I'm so sorry Skitty. I promised I'd make all this up to you and now you've evolved." I dropped to my knees and sobbed. Delcatty came and rubbed against me, to comfort me. "I promise, just a few more battles, and I'll let you go home okay?"

"Catty!" The cat mewed in hope. He even greeted Duchess playfully as she walked up to him.

"Okay then," I stood, still somewhat sad as I put out the fire. "Duchess, Delcatty, I guess we should find the way out of here now. Delcatty bounced in excitement as it led the way. "What? You found the way out last night too? You sure are something." I perked up a bit knowing that unlike it used to be, my new Delcatty was happy with me.

It took a long time for my eyes to adjust as we walked out of the cave. The bright light hit hard and relentlessly. But when they came into focus, a familiar black striped orange dog came into view. With him was his owner Kyle.

"Took you long enough. You've really kept me waiting." Kyle stamped his foot anxiously.

"You waited on me? What a gentlemen." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Give me a break. Or better yet, give me a battle." Kyle smiled, readying himself.

"You're on." I replied.


	8. Magikarpe Diem!

**x-x-x**

Episode 8: Magikarpe Diem!

"Alright, my first pokemon," Kyle pulled out a pokeball and threw it to the ground. "Is Beedrill!"

"Eeek!" I squealed as I hid behind a nearby rock.

"What up with you?" Kyle said looking confused.

"You can't u-use him! I-I'm dea-athly afraid of Be-Beedrill!" I cried.

"Oh please." Kyle sighed. He lifted the ball back up "Fine. Return Beedrill."

"Phew." I sighed. "Thanks."

"Lets try this again. My first pokemon will be Pidgeotto!" The bird flew from the ball, only to be knocked down quickly by Duchess.

"You should know better than to send out a bird to a cat." I laughed.

Kyle gritted his teeth together. "Return Pidgeotto." He looked down at Growlithe "Alright boy, go get it!" The loyal pup took out after Duchess and chased her up a nearby tree. "You should know better than to send a cat out on a dog." He teased.

"Return Duchess. Guess I'll never learn. Go Delcatty!" I called.

"It's all the same, just bigger. Growlithe! Get that cat!" Kyle commanded.

"Growwwwwlithe!" The dog growled as it charged for Delcatty. Delcatty simply stood firm, bracing for the impact. Growlithe stopped just short of him and looked back at his master with a confused look.

"Uh, don't worry about it. Use Flame Wheel!" Kyle called out.

Growlithe was surrounded with flames as he rolled toward Delcatty. Delcatty dodged, but not unscathed. He nursed a burn quickly as Growlithe rolled around to come back for him.

"Now! Copycat!" Flames engulfed Delcatty as it charged after Growlithe.

"What? No way!" Kyle stood shocked.

The pair rolled around in a frenzy, striking each other repeatedly. Finally Delcatty's flame fizzled out. Both pokemon looked tired, but neither was backing down.

"End this Growlithe! Bite!" Kyle commanded.

"Fake Out!" I called out. Just as Growlithe pounced for Delcatty, he swiped his claws in an X on Growlithe's face. The pup reared back and let out whimper. "Now finish with Faint Attack!" Delcatty lunged at Growlithe, knocking into him hard.

"Growlithe! Return." Kyle recalled him to the pokeball around his neck. He gently rubbed the ball with his thumb. "You did great Growlithe."

"Delcatty Return!" The burn that was hurting Delcatty throughout the fight caused him to pass out as well. "Alright Butterfree, you're up!" I said as I released the happy butterfly.

Kyle paused a long time, looking down at his feet. "Are you sure I can't use Beedrill?"

"It would be a bit unfair seeing as how I'm scared of them." I said looking at one pokeball on his belt he hadn't touched. "What's wrong though? I know you have another one."

"Go…" He hesitated embarrassingly. "Magikarp."

I stood dumbfounded as the fish flailed around on the ground.

"C'mon Magikarp! Use Tackle!" The fish continued to flail. "Use anything! Just attack!" Once again the fish just splashed about.

"Umm, okay. Butterfree, Tackle." Butterfree gave Magikarp a good shove into a nearby pond. "Does this mean I win?" I asked.

Kyle stood looking somewhat humiliated, and as he opened his mouth to speak, a flash of white shone in the pond's murky water. There was a long pause before the blue beast rose slowly out of the water. The wide grin streaked across Kyle's face. "Not a chance!"

"Oh great! A gyarados?" I stared up at the creature.

"A gyarados. Now Gyarados! Use Dragon Rage!" The mighty beast rose up high, whirling the winds around it before releasing a beam that knocked Butterfree to the ground. An instant K.O.

I ran to Butterfree's aid and returned him to his ball. "Okay, I give. I can't beat a Gyarados." I started digging through my purse for some prize money.

"Don't worry about it." Kyle waved. "I was just looking for a good battle, and you didn't disappoint." He started walking down the hill toward Cerulean City.

"Hey wait Kyle! My name's Shonna!"

Kyle turned toward me. "How did you know my name?"

"I saw your poster in Viridian! But don't worry." I winked. "I won't tell!"

Kyle gave a nervous laugh before continuing down the hill.


	9. The Cape and the Caper!

**x-x-x**

Episode 9: The Cape and the Caper!

I healed my pokemon at the pokemon center after that exhausting battle, and decided to have a look around the city. I'd heard there was a beautiful cape nearby. I walked over to the bridge littered with trainers, and noticed Kyle was on it with a rattata and a bag full of gold. That struck me as odd, but I didn't bother him about it. He looked kind of busy, so I snuck across the bridge while he kept the trainers busy. I wasn't in it for battles right now. I casually walked downstream until I got to it. The Lover's Cape. Lucky for me there was no one around. I slipped my sneakers off and stuck them in the crisp blue water. It felt so good to relax. They called it Lover's Cape because supposedly if a couple are together at it, they'll live together happily. But they say the same thing about luvdisc.

"Well that's a funny way to fish." Kyle snuck up behind me.

"I'm not fishing, I'm relaxing." I said, looking up at him. Suddenly I felt slobbery lips on my foot. "Agh! What is it? Get it off! Get it off!" I held my foot up to show a Magikarp's gums around it.

Kyle laughed hysterically before pulling the fish off and tossing it into the water. "Told ya you were fishing."

I looked away embarrassed. "Was not."

All of the sudden, a luvdisc jumped out of the water in front of us.

"A Luvdisc!" I said starry-eyed.

"Yeah?"

"Well, you know what they say about luvdisc," I gasped. "And this cape!"

"Women and their superstitions." Kyle blew it off. "I'm going to go cash in these babies." He adjusted the bag of gold nuggets on his back.

"Wow. What are you going to get with all that?" I stood and put my sneakers back on.

"A bike." He said simply before walking away.

"A bike huh?" I thought of how I'd never be able to afford one of those. "Well me and my pokemon are reenergized, so we're going to fight the gym leader!"

He turned and yelled back. "She's a water type!"

I walked into the Cerulean Gym and was taken back by the aquarium-like facility. I looked all around at the water pokemon until a girl only a little older than me with an odd orange hairstyle came out.

"Do you have a ticket?" She inquired.

"No, do you have to have a ticket to fight the gym leader here?" I asked.

"Oh no, sorry. I thought you were here for the aquarium. I'm Misty, the Gym Leader. Come right back this way for the gym." She led the way to a stadium that was essentially a large pool with three pedestals in it. I realized it was going to be difficult without a water type. "Alright, the rules are single battle style, two on two. The gym leader may not switch out pokemon. Ready?"

"Yeah, sure." I said. I decided to start with the one with the best advantage. "Go Butterfree!" Butterfree gently floated out and about the area.

"In that case, go Staryu!" The star pokemon spun into the water.

"My move? Then I'll use Sleep Powder!" Butterfree whipped up the powder with its wings and spread it through the air.

"Staryu! Rapid Spin!" The jeweled star spun rapidly to blow the particles away from it, and tackled into Butterfree at the same time. Butterfree brushed off the attack as Staryu dove into the water.

I thought to myself_. I need a different strategy. But what?_

"Not going to attack? Then I will. Rapid Spin again Staryu!" The staryu rose from the bottom of the tank, swiftly swimming up.

"That's it! Butterfree! Confusion!" I yelled. Butterfree used Confusion to move one of the floating platforms a little to the left, and Staryu collided into it. "That had to hurt it." Butterfree floated over, watching for movement, when suddenly a rush of stars hit him all at once. It knocked Butterfree out and it floated aimlessly toward the pool. "Butterfree return!" I recalled it. The staryu was looking really tired and I knew who could beat it. "Go Delcatty!" Delcatty perched himself onto one of the platforms, almost slipping from the slick, wet surface.

"This will end quick, your cat's a sitting duck!" Misty commented. "Blow that thing away with water gun!" Staryu burst out water toward him, but Delcatty made an amazing leap over to another pedestal. He dug in his claws for support, so he wouldn't slide off. "Hmph. So he knows a trick. But that won't help. Rapid Spin Staryu!"

"All right! Here's the pitch…" I said, as Delcatty rose his long paddle like tail. Just as Staryu was about to hit, Delcatty slammed his tail into it, knocking across the arena. The staryu slid down the wall before its gem blinked out. "Strike. You're out."

"But how?" Misty recalled staryu, still somewhat confused. "Fine beat this. Go Starmie!" The purple star gleamed in the light before falling into the water. "Starmie! Bubblebeam!" A jet of bubbles streamed out of Starmie.

"Cut through it Delcatty with Fake Out!" I called. As the bubbles came, Delcatty used its claws to pop every one. And from behind the mess of bubbles, it leaped at Starmie with a powerful Faint Attack. After swimming back to land Delcatty stood firm. It looked over for Starmie.

"Starmie. Recover." The star spun round with rejuvenated strength.

"What?" I was surprised. I guess I shouldn't have been but I was.

"Now Starmie! Swift!" Starmie jumped into the air as stars began to rain down.

"Uh, umm…" As Delcatty was hopping from platform to platform, I made a split second decision. "Copycat!" Delcatty immediately swung its tail at the surprised Starmie, and flung dozens of stars up at it, knocking it out on contact. It fell into the pool with a thud, and had to be returned to its pokeball as well. "I won?" I said, shocked. "I won!"

"Congratulations," Misty flicked the badge at me and I caught it. I opened my palm to see the water drop shaped badge. "I think you won by sheer luck, but that's a cascade badge. It's yours, fair and square."

"Thanks!" I said, as I ran to Delcatty. I hugged him tightly. "You did so great Delcatty! I'm so proud of you! You really helped me out. Now I'll hold up my end of the bargain and let you go back home. Would you like that?"

"Del-Catty!" The cat rubbed against me happily.

"All right then, I'll miss you, but I'll see you again when I come back home." I pushed the pokeball to him and walked out of the gym.

**x-x-x**

"Wow so he's already sent over? That's great Mom!" I said, sitting at the video phone booth at the pokecenter.

"Oh yes, those PC systems are really amazing. He's been here for a while now." Mom cheerfully said.

"Del-Catty!" Delcatty playfully pawed at the screen. Mom shooed him away before speaking again.

"Yes he seems very happy. He's already went through half a bag of kitty kibble though!" She winced.

"Well, he is so much larger now. He needs it." I laughed.

"I suppose your right. Oh! He's trying to get into my chicken I just baked! I gotta go!"

"Okay, take care Mom!" I hung up the phone, happy that they were doing well. "But now, I guess I'm headed to Vermillion. I'm on a winning streak after all."

I walked out of the center. The usual road was blocked by a large tree, but I had discover earlier on my trip to the cape that you could pass through a man's house. I walked up the house, but there was a policeman guarding it.

"Excuse me, what happened here?" I peeked inside to see the house in shambles.

"Oh, unfortunately a team rocket member broke in here and stole a valuable TM." The officer said.

"Wow, that sucks. Can I go through?" I asked.

"No, sorry kid but this is a crime scene." The officer said.

A burly man came to the doorway. "Oh please, she's just a trainer. You can come on through. Just watch your step."

I carefully trekked through the house to the back door. "Thank you for letting me pass through sir."

"It's no problem, just watch out for that team rocket member on the loose. He stole my TM and he wouldn't have a problem stealing from you!" The man bellowed.

"Okay, thanks." I quietly walked out, but as I walked down the road, I noticed something suspicious behind the bushes. There was the Rocket member, looking over the TM. _Okay, what to say? Something cool._ "Stop Thief!"

The man turned to look at me, and now that I got a good look at him, I saw it was Jake! The member I met from earlier. "Man, not you again. Buzz off why don't ya!"

"No!" There was a long pause. "Uh, hand back that stolen TM!"

"Or what little girl?" Jake got right up in my face and sneered.

"I'll battle you." I said, in a cocky tone. "And you know you don't want that."

Jake laughed. "I saw your pokemon pushovers. Bring it on! Go Zubat!" He released the Zubat which flew high above us.

"Go Duchess!" Duchess playfully hopped from her pokeball.

"Mewth?" She stared up at Jake curiously.

"This is going to be easy man!" Jake chuckled. "Zubat! Wing attack!"

The zubat blew a gust of wind toward Duchess, knocking her off her feet.

"Duch! Use Pay Day!" Coins flew at Zubat, knocking it to the ground. "Now give it your Fury Swipes! Duchess clawed at the Zubat until it was knocked out. "You're right. That was easy!"

"Not cool man!" Jake took off, dropping the TM as he ran.

I laughed as I gave Duchess a petting. "Great job Duchie!" As I stroked her, a bright light flashed and she grew as tall as Delcatty was. "No way Duchess! You evolved into a Persian!" The Persian rubbed against me, purring. "You kept your markings though. That's strange. Well I guess every pokemon's different." I picked up the TM Dig. "Let's go return this, shall we?"

As we walked back into the man's house he turned to greet us. "Oh hello again young trainer!" He called. "Back so soon?"

"Only to return this to you." I said as I handed him the TM.

"Gosh? You got it back? I'll be. Must have been the work of that fine Persian you got there."

"Perrrrr-sian!" Duchess purred happily.

"Yep, that was it! Well see, I actually just got through teaching my Diglett Dig without the TM. Hey I know! Why don't you use it to teach Dig to your Persian?"

"You can do that?"

"Yeah! You just press this button here, and hold it up to the pokemon…" A bell chimed. "And there you go, now she should be able to dig you out of any situation!"

"That's great! Thanks so much sir!"

"Not a problem little miss, good luck to you on all your adventures!" He waved as I walked down out the door again and headed down the road.

**x-x-x**

A little down the road, I noticed a house with a sign in front that said Pokemon Day-Care. I used to work at one in Solaceon Town, and was intrigued enough to go inside. It was much smaller than the one at Solaceon, but still very well organized. There was a pikachu sitting on the front counter, grooming itself. When it caught sight of me, it looked toward the back room and called out. "Pik-achu."

"How cute." I reached over to pet the yellow rodent. It was obviously a girl with cute little ribbons attached to her ears.

"Good Job Pikachu! You alerted me of another customer." A man walked toward us and handed the pikachu a treat before turning toward me. "Hello. Would you like to drop off a pokemon today?"

"Not really." I said as I pet the pikachu behind the ears. The man looked very surprised when I did this. "See I used to help out in a day-care center like this one and… hey why are you looking at me like that?"

The man closed his dropped jaw and opened it again to speak. "Oh, nothing. It's just, that pikachu, never lets anyone but me pet her. You must be a very experienced caretaker!"

"Oh no." I replied, embarrassed. "I only helped out."

"In any case, I've never seen her take so well to anyone, especially a trainer. I wonder… no nevermind. It would never work."

"What's the matter?"

"Well, you see, this pikachu was abandoned. Her owner came in, dropped her off, and never came back for her. She's kind of been a mascot here, helping me out, but she needs to be out in battles, with a loving trainer."

"Why didn't you just say so? I'd love to take her." I gently stroked Pikachu's head, making her cheeks glow bright red.

"Would you really? That's so great! But I'm afraid to tell you this pikachu comes with some… baggage." The man lifted a large egg from behind the counter. "You see, about a week ago, a young man and his friends dropped off their pokemon to go do some shopping. The young man had a very strong pikachu with him, and well, needless to say, they got along really well. After they picked up their pokemon, I found this egg. Now, this pikachu won't go anywhere without it.

"How sad. But I understand. She's already lost so much, you can't blame her for holding tight to that egg." I pondered for a moment. "But I have plenty of room in my party, I'll take them both with me."

"Would you really?" The man looked overjoyed. You could tell he was a good guy. "That's so great!" He handed the egg to me and I placed it in my bag.

"Cha!" Pikachu reached out for it sadly.

"Don't worry. You're coming too." I held the poke ball up to her head. The red flash pulled her inside and the ball clicked three times before fastening closed. I placed her pokeball right beside the egg.

"Thank you so much for doing this." The man nodded. "I guess you'll be headed to Vermillion eh?"

"I guess so." I walked out and headed for the nearby entrance for the underground pathway.


	10. SS Spirited Away!

**x-x-x**

Episode 10: S.S. Spirited Away!

"Oh man, that was exhausting." I stopped to catch my breath as a boy strolled past on his bicycle. "Wish I had one of them. Oh well." I walked slowly out the underground path's doorway and was greeted by an elderly man.

"Stop! You must turn back!" He held up his hand in front of me.

"What? No way! It took me way too long to get through that place." I spoke.

"You must! That curled golden hair, those deep blue eyes you have. You must turn back now before it's too late!"

"Wait, what's this have to do with my hair?" I stared at him in confusion. "What's up mister?"

"The city is haunted by a pair of spirits. They trick young women of your hair and eye color into going with them. The women that follow them are spirited away and never seen again." The old man shivered in fear.

"Oh give me a break geezer. I thought this was actually something serious!" I stomped past him angrily. "Spirits. What a bunch of bologna!"

"You must not fall for their trickery! Watch out for the f…" By now I was out of earshot for the old man's voice to carry.

"Spirits. Pish posh." I said as I walked briskly to the city. "I can't wait to get on the S.S. Anne here though. It should be just ahead." As I continued walking a thick fog engulfed me. I couldn't see anything around me, but I could hear the ocean waves, so I followed the sound. As I got closer, I saw the light from a boat. A cloaked figure stood by the dock. As I approached him, he spoke.

"Do you have your ticket miss?" The figure lifted the ropes to the dock before I could hand it to him. "Go on in then."

"Wait, are you sure this is the S.S. Anne?" I asked. "I thought it was a cruise liner, this just looks like a large sailboat. And shouldn't there be more people?"

The figure pointed to writing on the boat, which read S.S. Anne on the side. "As to your question of the people, I suppose they wouldn't come, on account of the fog."

"Oh." I walked onto the boat suspiciously. I sat on a bench in the back, as the cloaked man went up to the controls in the front. "Are you sure you can drive this thing in this thick of fog?" I asked.

"Most certainly." There was something strange about his voice. It was like I wasn't hearing the words and processing them, but that the words simply came to my mind, as if they'd been placed there. I dismissed the thought thinking I was going crazy, especially when I watched the fog quickly rise as we took sail on the water.

"Wow, the fog lifted!" I observed.

"Yes, how fortunate for us." The voice answered.

The rest of the trip was quiet as I looked out onto the water, seeing the sights. After what felt like an hour, I saw a beautiful castle perched on a nearby island come into view. "How beautiful."

"Yes, we will be arriving there shortly." The figure spoke.

"What? But I didn't think the S.S. Anne made any stops." I said. He didn't reply as he moored the boat at the edge of the island. I carefully stood up and crossed over to the land. It was cold, and the fog returned in a less brutal form. The figure motioned me to follow him into the castle, so I followed if only to get out of the cold. As he opened the castle doors, I stared at the gnarled and twisted trees outside. "Somebody needs to work on their landscaping." I laughed. But the figure simply stepped inside the large foyer of the castle. As I walked in, the doors mysteriously closed behind me. The figure motioned for me to go in an adjacent room, which was exactly the opposite of the dark dreary foyer. It was decorated in pink lace and had soft yellow lighting. There was a beautiful pink dress hanging in the room.

"You may place your things here. The master will see you in one hour." The cloaked figure lifted its hood to reveal a Lucario. He closed the door abruptly.

"Hey wait!" I jumped up and pulled at the door handle, but it was locked. "Oh that's just great." I fell to my knees and looked for any other way out of the room. There was none. "I feel like I'm in the Beauty and the Beast story." I imagined walking out to an ugly primeape man. I spent a long time trying to pick the lock, and even longer trying to open my pokeballs, but for some odd reason, they stayed shut. I sat in the middle of the room sulking, until finally temptation got a hold of me as I tried on the frilly dress. It was a perfect fit. There was a tiara sitting on the vanity. I picked it up and placed it on my head. Just as I was admiring myself in the mirror, the door thrust open. Lucario stood in the doorway.

"Good. You are ready." Lucario used his telepathy to speak this to me.

"Oh no you don't, I'm getting out of here!" I reached for my bag, but before I could grab it, Lucario held his palm to me and encased me in a strange glowing sphere.

"Let me out of here! Why are you doing this?" I pounded on the sphere's walls.

"For my master." Lucario replied as he pulled the sphere with his paws and pushed it though the doors to a dining room. There was a feast littering the table and as I was held high above a chair, the sphere dissipated and I toppled onto it. The door to this room again, was locked, so I sat impatiently in one of the chairs.

"All right!" I yelled out. "Primeape Man! Come on out and lets get this over with!"

The door creaked as I heard the footsteps come in. I turned to see him enter the room and close the door gently with his staff.

"I'm sorry to keep you waiting princess. I, Sir Aaron, do give you my deepest apologies." The handsome man took his seat across from me at the table. He was dressed in a dark blue suit that brought out his dark eyes and hair. The cape and hat he sported made him look like a hero out of a fairy tale. " I do hope you enjoy the feast I've had prepared for us." He served me a plate of delectable looking food with the utmost manners.

"Well, actually I am starving." I said, as I dug into the plate of food. Sir Aaron looked somewhat surprised as he watched me gorge on the feast. "What's wrong?" I said while still chewing.

Sir Aaron simply let out a charming laugh. "Nothing my dear princess, I'm just happy you can finally relax around me." He slowly began eating from his plate, taking his time.

After dessert I leaned back in the chair. "That was pretty good." I said. "I must say it's nice to get treated like royalty."

"What ever do you mean princess? Are you not always treated as such?"

I didn't say anything as I realized this guy must really think I'm a princess.

"Because if not," He continued. "You should, and I would ensure a beautiful princess like you is treated as such everyday."

I blushed. Profusely.

"Princess," Sir Aaron rose from his chair. "Would you honor me with a dance tonight?"

"Uh…" I thought for a moment. "Could you give me a minute? To umm… digest."

"Oh. Very well." Sir Aaron nodded. "You may take some time to, as you put it, digest. But meet me later in the garden." He walked over to me, took my hand and gently kissed it. "I'll be waiting for you princess." He walked out the door calmly.

"Now. I've got to find that Lucario and have a word with him." The doors were unlocked again, so I rushed down the foyer. "Lucario! C'mon on out! I know you're here." There was no response. "Fine, I'm leaving!" I reached for the main gate handles.

"You can not leave." His voice called out. I turned to see him behind me, arms crossed.

"Why? Why can I not leave? What is it exactly that you want me to do?" I asked.

"You need to stay here with my master. Keep him happy." Lucario turned toward a photo sitting on a nearby table.

I walked over to the photo and picked it up. It was a photo of Sir Aaron and the Princess, whom I had to admit, did look a lot like me. "This is the real princess isn't it? And you are the spirits left lurking this castle. Stealing away girls to replace her. Why Lucario?" I questioned.

"You don't understand! My master loved the princess! But he never got the chance to tell her before he passed on. He still longs to tell her how he felt, so we're stuck here, looking for a dead maiden. I have to bring the girls like you! His spirit will never rest unless I do so." Lucario looked down, unhappily.

"Let me help you." I put a hand on his shoulder. It felt odd, thin, like it wasn't there at all, but it still seemed to calm him. "Let me help you and your master." I walked toward the garden without a second thought. I crossed the pathway with beautiful roses on either side, the fog was non-existent in this area, and the temperature had changed as well. It was now a pleasantly warm night as Sir Aaron gazed at me from across the courtyard.

"Princess, you came. Let us dance, right here under the stars." He took my hand and whirled me across the garden. We danced slowly, hand in hand before I spoke.

"Sir Aaron, there's something I have to tell you." I said, closing my eyes and enjoying the moment.

"No my dear princess, there is something I must tell you. Something I've longed to tell you all my life, but could not bring myself to until this day." He stopped the dance and gazed into my eyes. Slowly wrapping his arms around me, that felt so warm and safe. "My beautiful princess, I love you." He began leaning in slowly with his eyes closed, and I suddenly felt unable to resist what was coming. I leaned forward, thinking. _Maybe I could stay here, maybe I could stay here with Sir Aaron…_

"No!" I pushed him. I shoved out of his arms. That kiss would have sealed my fate and kept me there for the rest of my days. Sir Aaron simply stared at me with a hurt look on his face. "No Sir Aaron! I'm not the princess! The princess you loved is long gone. She is some here out there waiting for you. She's not here in this castle anymore!" Sir Aaron looked surprised, and then a smile crossed his face, as he looked toward the stars. "Yes! She's out there, that's where you'll find her." As I said this, I noticed everything around me, the castle, the roses, and the courtyard disappearing. Even the dress I was wearing was changing back to my normal attire. Lucario walked over to his master and stood beside him. A sad smile crossed both their faces.

"Thank you," Sir Aaron said to me. "For showing me the right way. I'm afraid our time together will end, but I want you to have this." He handed me an odd colored pokemon egg. "Just like my search for the princess, it will take a lot of time and love, but when it hatches, you will know I've finally found peace."

Lucario, Sir Aaron, and everything around me faded away. As it did, a rush of wind, like a cyclone, blew me back, and I hit something hard. Before I knew it, the world went black.

**x-x-x**

As I awoke, I rubbed my sore head tenderly. I looked back to see I was leaning against an old beat up pick-up truck that must have knocked me out. It was the only thing besides me on the tiny island. I would have called it all a dream, but I still held the pokemon egg in my arms. I crawled over to my bag, that was laying nearby. The other egg and all my pokeballs were still packed neatly inside. I looked around but couldn't see any way of getting off the island. I leaned back against the truck and sighed. But as I stared into the horizon, a spec came into view. As the spec came closer I could tell it was a boat. I stood, holding my bag across my arm, and my new egg in the other. "Hey! Help!"

**x-x-x**

Kyle looked out to the ocean from the front deck. He closed his eyes taking in the smell of the sea, and blocking out the captain's constant bantering of gratitude for helping him get over his seasickness.

"I tell you young man! If you hadn't came to rub my back then, I don't know what I would have done." The captain sneered. "You know it felt reaaal good."

"Whatever old man, just hurry and get us back to Vermillion." Kyle leaned against the railing until a small island came into view. "Hmm… How'd a pick-up get out there? Looks like an old S-10." He paused, and squinted his eyes. "What the… how did she get out there?"

"What's that son? I couldn't hear ya!" The captain asked.

"My friend's out there! Stuck on that island!" Kyle called out. And he wondered why he had said friend. Were they friends now?

"You have a friend eh!" The captain snickered. "Younger or older?"

"Uh… younger?"

"Oh boy! I'll pull over right now! Lemme just drop anchor here and…" The boat pulled to a sudden stop, causing Kyle to lose balance and grab for the rail. He heard lots of people downstairs screaming and plates breaking.

"Now you get that friend of yours and bring em' on board so I can meet em!" The captain smiled.

Kyle walked over to the rescue items and began untying the supplies.

**x-x-x**

I watched as the boat pulled to an abrupt stop beside me. Then I saw who was coming to my rescue. Kyle smiled as he leaned over the railing.

"How'd you manage to get way out here?" He asked.

"It's a long story! You think you can help me get off this island?"

"Maybe, let me see what I can do!" He reached behind and tossed out the dinkiest life ring into the water.

"What? You've got me be kidding me! Surely you've got something better than that!" I cried.

"Nope sorry, that's it!" He called out.

I adjusted the life ring around my waist and slowly got pulled into the water. "Agh! Cold Cold Cold!" Finally I was pulled up and over onto the boats deck, soaking wet.

Kyle laughed. "You might want to watch your step."

"What?" I looked down to see a magikarp latched onto my foot. "Gah! Stupid magikarp!" I shook my foot and flung the thing across the ocean. Kyle laughed only harder. "Hey wait," I looked around the corner. "Kyle! There's three life boats over there!"

Kyle turned and looked. "Oops." He put his hand behind his head sheepishly. "Guess I missed that."

"Missed that! You mean you drug me through the ocean for nothi…"

"Oh hello there! Care to rub my back for me?" The captain came running from the front deck. He saw me and his face soured. "Aw, I thought your friend was a boy." He sulked back to the control room and started the boat up again.

We watched as the captain walked away. Finally I broke the silence. "Umm, so… What's up with him?"

Kyle looked over at me. "He's very weird. Try not to talk to him."


	11. Let the Sparks Fly!

**x-x-x**

Episode 11: Let the Sparks Fly!

The boat finally pulled to a stop at the Vermillion docks. Me and Kyle joked around with each other, laughing as we crossed the pier. He pulled out a strange storage system the unfolded to reveal a red futuristic looking motorcycle, complete with a navigation screen of the entire Kanto region.

"Wow, and here I thought you had just bought a regular bicycle." I commented.

"Nope. I bought the best they had." Kyle smiled a smile that made him look very cool. I chuckled at him putting on the macho front.

"Like! Oh my gosh! Check him out Rachael!"

"I know! He's so hot! And look at that bike Amanda!"

The two preppy girls swooned all over Kyle in their short little schoolgirl outfits. Kyle looked to me for help, but I knew these girls, and I knew nothing could be done.

"Like, oh my gosh! Can I go on a ride on your bike?" Amanda asked.

"No way! He's so going to take me!" Yelled Rachael. They noticed him looking at me, and if only to find out what could be more amusing than themselves, turned to see me. "No way! You're Shonna! The school drop-out!" The girls giggled like crazy.

"What on earth are you doing here? Surely a loser like you isn't planning on boarding the S.S. Anne. Our daddies bought us tickets to get on it." Amanda teased.

"Yeah, like what are you going to ride drop-out? That?" Rachael pointed to a nearby dingy boat. Again, the girls giggled, and I hung my head.

"Actually, she already has been on the S.S. Anne," Kyle spoke up.

"What? Like no way!" The girls said in unison.

"Way." He wrapped his arm around my shoulder and held me tight against him. "This is my girl. We were going to go cruise around before we were so rudely interrupted."

The girls jaws dropped. "No way! … hmph!" The huffed off, twisting their rears all the way.

"Thank you for that." I hugged Kyle before he could let go of me. He blushed slightly.

"Umm… why were they picking on you? Did you know those girls?"

"Yes." I let go of the embrace. "See, I used to go to one of those fancy pokemon schools, where they teach you how to pass the Indigo Plateau test? But, they were mean to me, and I felt like I wasn't learning anything there. I wanted to really experience pokemon, not just read about them. So I dropped out. That's why they were making fun of me."

"I see." There was a long pause before he spoke. "Well, I admire that you made that decision." He smiled.

"Yeah, I think it was the right one." I looked away embarrassed. "So! What are you going to do now?"

"Well, I've already beaten the gym leader, so I guess I'll head on down to Rock Tunnel."

"Oh. I still need to fight the gym leader." I said as I picked up my over-stuffed bag. As I did, one of the eggs rolled out and fell toward the pavement. "Oh no!"

"Got it," Kyle caught it just before it hit the ground.

"Good catch!" I said as I took the egg in my arms. "I don't know what I'm going to do though, I can't keep both of these eggs on me all the time." I looked up at Kyle. "Could you do me a huge favor and take care of it for me?" I handed him the yellow egg.

"I don't know…"

"Well if you can't don't worry about it." I sighed.

"Um, yeah, I can take it." He took the egg in his hands.

"Really? Thanks so much! You're really helping me out." I started to walk toward the gym, when I felt something move in my purse. There was static coming from a pokeball inside. I picked up the ball and held it curiously. Suddenly a huge shockwave came pouring out, enough to tease and frizz out my hair. "Ouch." I said, as Pikachu hopped from the ball. She ran to Kyle and pulled on his pant leg.

"Chu! Chu!" She cried out.

"Shoot. I forgot about that." I said, trying to adjust my hair.

"Forgot what?" Kyle asked confused.

"I forgot that Pikachu won't be separated from her egg."

"You mean this thing's a Pichu?" Kyle gave a repugnant face. "I was hoping it'd be an Elekid or something cool." He thought. "Hey I know, I'll take the other egg and you can keep this one." He smiled.

"No!" I cried "the other one was a gift… from someone special."

Kyle simply rolled his eyes.

"Look" I said. "As soon as it hatches, I'll take it back, I just can't carry both the eggs at the same time." I picked up Pikachu to comfort her. "But until then, it looks like we're stuck with each other."

"Fine." Kyle said as he hurried toward the gym. "Let's go and get your battle over with then." He walked on ahead, and I smiled, happy that I had a friend to come on my journey with me. "Hey! What are you waiting for? I don't have all day!" Kyle called out. I giggled, before chasing after him.

**x-x-x**

We walked into the gym, which looked like a power plant from a science fiction movie. All around us were odd electric contraptions. Gadgets littered the walls of the hallway. Things that resembled transformers from electric poles. We continued down the hall, until we reached a small room with a lighting bolt symbol on it. I reached for the knob, but Kyle pulled my arm back gently. I turned to face him.

"Just so you know, before you go in there, this guy, L.T. Surge, he thinks he's all that. Very over-confident. Too much so." He smiled.

"Well," I smiled back. "I'll just have to use that to my advantage." I pushed open the door, and stepped into the large, wired up stadium. Kyle took a seat on a nearby bench, clutching the egg to him. "Hello!" I called out. "I'm here to challenge the gym leader!"

The room was quiet, until the transformers around the room glowed and shocks fed through the wiring to a platform from the ceiling. It slowly lowered to reveal a throne like pedestal, with L.T. Surge sitting in the chair, looking very regal.

"Well, Well!" He called out. "It's been a while since I've had a pretty girl to challenge me. He rose from his chair and jumped off the still lowering platform. "You sure you want to go through with this? I've had many men come in here and lose badly. I don't wanna make you cry after all." He snickered.

"Cut the crap Surge." I readied my pokeball. "Let's battle."

"Demanding. I like that." He winked. "Well if you insist. I'll cut you a break and only use one pokemon, you can use as many as you like."

"Your misjudgments of me and my pokemon will be your downfall." I held my chosen pokeball in my hands. "In fact, I'm willing to bet I can take your one pokemon with just this one alone."

"Shonna!" Kyle called out from the bench. "Just because I said he was overconfident doesn't mean you should be!"

"Don't worry Kyle! I know what I'm doing."

"Have it your way." Surge shook his head in pity. "But don't cry like a baby when your pokemon end up in the emergency ward!" He threw his pokeball into the arena. "Go Raichu!"

"Rai! Rai!" The raichu stood tall and had just as much an inflated ego as Surge.

"Alright then! Go Duchess!" I threw the ball and my Persian slinked across the stage, tail held high.

"That's a joke right?" Surge laughed, and Raichu followed suit. "A girly little cat?"

"That's right." I nodded.

"This will be even quicker than I thought. Raichu charge up for a Thunderbolt!" Raichu on this command began charging up the energy in his cheeks. Shockwaves bounced around the room, interfering with the equipment, and blowing one of the nearby transformers.

Kyle watched carefully as the egg in his lap teetered and wobbled. "Maybe all this electricity will… hmm."

"That's it!" Surge commanded. "Now shock that thing!"

"Duchess Attract!"

The cat walked over to Raichu, twirling her tail around him and playfully rubbing against him. The shocks from Raichu dissipated, and the only thing coming from him were hearts.

"What? That can't be!" Surge screamed.

"You underestimated the power of a woman Surge. Duchess! Use dig now!"

As Raichu stood gazing at her, Duchess dug her claws into the ground and tore into the soft earth underneath. She sped through her tunnel, and pounded her way back up into the unsuspecting Raichu. It hit hard. She continued tunneling and hitting Raichu, making a mess of the ring.

"A ground-type move. That's great. C'mon Raichu! Snap out of it! She's a cat! You're a mouse! It would never work!" Surge clenched his fists tight as he yelled.

"Rai?" Raichu finally came around, but looked very weakened.

"Okay Raichu! It can't attack if it can't move! Use Thunder Wave!"

Raichu charged up its energy and released it in a shock that engulfed Duchess. The static bounced around on her coat before she shook it off in all different directions.

"What, but how?" Surge and Raichu stood, wide-eyed.

"Finish him with Fury Swipes." I called. Duchess pounced on the rodent and scratched three times across his face. The third, knocking him out.

"But I don't get it! How are was it not paralyzed?" Surge frowned.

"Easy, in addition to all that dirt on her fur, as a Persian, she learned a new ability called Limber. It prevents that from ever happening." I stroked Duchess's fur in praise.

"Fine, here's the stupid badge. Now get out! I can't believe I lost to a girl." Surge grumbled as he handed me the badge and headed back up his elevator.

"Yay! I got the badge!" I pinned the newest addition to its spot on my purse.

"Um, Shonna!" I think you should come here!" Kyle set the wobbly egg on the ground as static and a bright white light surrounded it. The shell disappeared to reveal the small yellow mouse. It opened its large round eyes and stared up at Kyle. I walked over to them to watch.

"Pi…Pichu!" The pichu ran up to Kyle and hugged his leg.

"It's so cute!" I squealed. Just then Pikachu hopped out of her pokeball.

"Pi! Pika!" She ran to her baby and held it.

"Pi!" The pichu happily returned the hug as its mother began grooming it.

"A happy family. So sweet." I said as I reached for an empty pokeball. "Well little Pichu? Let's get you settled." I poked the ball to him gently, and watched as the button flashed once, then twice, but Pichu hopped out. It tilted its head curiously at me. "Umm, lets try this again." Once more I put it inside the ball, and once more it hopped out. This time it looked scared and ran to hide behind Kyle's legs. "Gosh. Do you not like pokeballs? That's okay. You can stay out if you want, little Pichu!" I grabbed the rodent and held it close to me, only to get a small shock.

"I don't think he likes you." Kyle commented.

"No kidding." I said as I set Pichu down. He immediately ran to Kyle, climbing up his pant leg and resting on his head. He nuzzled into Kyle's thick brown hair.

"Looks to me that the only one Pichu wants to be with is you." I laughed.

"What?" Kyle cringed. "You said you'd take it back though!"

"Well, I can't help it if he doesn't want to be mine."

"There's no way I'm keeping it though!" He scoffed.

Pichu had fallen asleep on Kyle's head, but me and Pikachu stared at him with pitiful looks on our faces.

"Pi-Pika!" Pikachu pleaded.

"But if you don't take him…" I frowned. "What will happen to him? And Pikachu? They're not ready to split up."

Kyle gave a look of disconcertment. "Fine. I'll take care of him for a little while longer. But just until they're ready."

"Yay!" I gave him a brief hug. "Thank you, for not breaking up the happy family." Pikachu nodded in agreement. "But, of course you know that means you're stuck with me for a while longer." I winked and nudged him on the shoulder.

"Yipee." He said sarcastically. "But let's get one thing straight. I'm not traveling the same way you do. So you can forget walking everywhere. I bought that bike for a reason."

"Oh yeah, your motorcycle." I paused. "That's fine by me! I guess we'll have to go in style."


	12. High Speeds, High Stakes!

**x-x-x**

Episode 12: High Speeds, High Stakes!

"Are you sure you can take a motorcycle in through Rock Tunnel? I thought there were rules against that." I said as I sat behind Kyle in the oversized seat to the massive bike.

"Why not? Regular bicycles are allowed." He said as he sat Pichu in my lap, with Pikachu. "Besides, if you think I'm walking like the rest of these losers, you're crazy." Kyle revved the engine unaware of the nearby travelers he'd offended. As he zoomed off, and puffs of smoke surrounded them, I saw one reach for his phone.

I gripped onto Kyle's jacket for support. The high speeds made me a little scared in the dark cave. But with his headlights on, and Pikachu and Pichu to light the way, I felt a little better. We sailed right by the mess of trainers littering the cave. Some of them scowled, some yelled out obscenities, and some yelled things like, "You're going to kill somebody on that thing!"

Kyle stayed focused on the road in front of him. He carefully maneuvered around the curves and I remembered thinking he was a pretty good driver. _Drives too fast, but good._ As I was thinking this however, I heard sirens coming from behind us.

"What is that?" I asked as I turned to see Officer Jenny in her motorbike behind us, a growlithe in the side cart.

"Ah crud." Kyle said as he revved the engine even more. "Hold on tight Shonna." He pushed the gas down all the way as we sped faster and faster through the cave. I wrapped my arms tight around his waist.

"Kyle! Why aren't we stopping?" I called out. "Just pull over!"

"Nope. Sorry." He sped up more. "In case you forgot, I'm a man on the run."

"Oh yeah," I clung to him as I watched everything streak past in blurs. Pikachu and Pichu clung to me just as tight. I glanced back to see Jenny still on our tail, further behind, but still there. "She's still back there." I commented.

"Yeah, but we'll lose her." He said, eyes fixed on something ahead.

I looked up to see a pile of rocks, arranged into a ramp, it looked unsteady, and we were headed right for it. "Kyle! Turn! Turn or we'll hit those rocks!"

"Exactly!" He said as he pushed down to bounce the bike enough to where the front end raised, and hit the large flat rock. We sailed over it, and for a minute I felt like I was in one of the slow-motion moments of an action flick. I screamed as we passed over the rocks. The weight of the bike crushed the rocks as they fell and crumbled into a heap in front of Jenny. She stopped just short of it.

"We did it!" I cheered. Suddenly Kyle pulled to a stop. "Hey what's up? Why'd we stop?"

"Dead end." He said as he looked around the area.

We were enclosed in a rock-like box. Walls surrounded us on three sides, and the piled up rocks blocked the other. "Great," I said. "Now what?"

"There!" Kyle pointed at one of the walls. "You see that? There's dirt falling from that wall, it's probably thinner." He reached for the pokeball around his neck, releasing Growlithe. "Go Growlithe! Use Dig on that wall." The dog began clawing through the wall as fast as it could, but not near fast enough as I watched Jenny's growlithe burn through the pile of rocks. The flamethower burned through the last of the rocks as Jenny stepped through. "Stop right there! I got a complaint of someone driving recklessly through the cave with a motorcycle, and you fit the bill! Step off the bike! You two are under arrest!" She stepped forward with the handcuffs. Her growlithe followed. "Wait a second…" She stared at Kyle. "I know you!"

"C'mon growlithe…" Kyle gritted his teeth as he watched growlithe claw through.

"It's no good." I clenched my fists together. "Growlithe's not going to be enough to break through that wall."

"Growwwlithe!" The pup dug through the hard rock until a bright red stone fell to the ground. He pawed at it gently until a light engulfed him. He grew, and became a giant Arcanine. He pushed his way through the last of the wall, breaking through.

"An Arcanine!" Kyle watched in awe.

"Okay! You can admire it later Kyle, we gotta go!" I said poking his back.

"Right!" He said as he revved the engine and sped through the hole. Arcanine followed, leaving Jenny briefly stunned. "Arcanine, close the wall with Flamethrower!" Immediately, Arcanine burned the rock above to leave molten rock filling the gap. We drove off and out of the cave before Jenny knew what hit her.


	13. A Ghastly Act!

**x-x-x**

Episode 13: A Ghastly Act

"I can't believe we have the law after us." I took deep breathes, trying to catch up with Kyle. The Police Force was still tailing us and we were forced to try and hide on foot. Kyle pulled my arm as we ducked into a nearby building.

It was a large tower, the ground floor looked to be a cemetery, and as a woman called out for us to stop, we raced up the stairs to the next floor. There was no one on this floor, and instead there was nothing but an ominous purple haze.

"We can hide out here for a while." Kyle said as we hunkered behind a large gravestone.

"I guess, but it's really creepy in here." I held Pikachu and Pichu close to me.

"Pi! Pichu!" Pichu began giggling and pointing behind me. I turned, and my face grew livid.

"Hush that thing up will you?" Kyle said angrily. He continued to look around, making sure no one was there.

"Bu-bu-but….K-kyle!" I scooted back against him. "Th-there's a ghost!"

"What? What are you going on about?" Kyle turned. "Gah!"

"Leave this place!" The ghost cried out. "You're not welcome here." It stared at our scared faces before looking up, and floating toward the stairwell.

We watched as an elderly man came up the stairs. He was swamped by three of the ghouls and they surrounded him.

"We gotta help him." I said, as I stood to face them, knees still shaking. "Go Pikachu! Thundershock!"

Pikachu was too scared to move. "What's wrong?" I kneeled beside her. "Its okay. You can help him!" In the middle of my pep talk, Pichu had wandered over to the trio.

"Pi?" Pichu stared up at the ghosts, and they fixed their gaze on him.

"Pika!" Pikachu jumped in front of Pichu and let loose its electric attack. The haze lifted from around the ghosts to reveal a trio of ghastly. They shook off and flew up the stairs.

"Are you okay mister?" I walked over to the old man. Kyle picked up Pichu and followed.

"Yes, yes, I'm all right." He dusted himself off. "My name's Mr. Fuji, and you are…" He adjusted his glasses. "Oh my! You're the people the police are looking for outside."

Kyle stepped forward. "Yes we are but…"

"Don't worry about explaining it. You helped me with those gastly, so you can't be all that bad." Mr. Fuji smiled. "I can tell you aren't bad people, so let me help you out."

"You'd do that?" Kyle looked skeptical.

"Why yes. I'm a very well respected man in the community. They're bound to believe me."

"All right then. What's your plan?"

**x-x-x**

We casually walked out of the tower. Sinister grins streaked across our faces. Other than Mr. Fuji, each of us had a ghastly latched onto our heads.

The crowd and surrounding police gave disgusted looks as they waited for someone to speak.

"Ahem!" Mr. Fuji cleared his throat. "Apparently these kids were acting out as a result of a pair of gastly possessing them. Their shenanigans were actually just playful gastly trying to have a little fun. I was just now able to get them to reveal their physical form. And now, I'll free these two." He snapped his fingers and the gastly let go, giving a final lick to our noggins before they rushed back into the tower. We fell to the ground, hitting our knees hard. After a moment we rose.

"Ouch." I rubbed my head softly. "Wh-What happened?"

"I'm not sure." Kyle sat up slowly.

"Well," The chief of the police force bellowed. "Seeing as this was an act of the pokemon, I suppose we can not charge them. Let this be a reminder to us however, that we must put a stop to the current problems in the tower. The ghost pokemon have been acting strangely, and we must find their reasoning behind this. Fall out men!"

The police scattered as we continued to rub our heads and groan.

"Pretty good acting, I must say." Mr. Fuji laughed.

"It was an awfully painful way of clearing our bad rap, but it worked." Kyle sighed.

"Thank you for that Mr. Fuji." I smiled. "Is there anything we can do to repay you?"

"You already have, but you can wish me luck as I continue to scale the tower."

"You're going back in?" I asked, surprised.

"I'm afraid so. I must find out what is going on in that tower. There's something unsettling in there, and I have to discover what it is." He stared up at the tower for a moment.

"That's too dangerous." Kyle said, concerned.

"No more than your journey will be." Mr. Fuji smiled at us. "You are trainers right? We share different paths, but a similar goal. To make pokemon happy. Now I want you to take this with you." He handed an odd shaped flute to Kyle. "Use this to awaken pokemon that can't get out of their slumber." Mr. Fuji laughed. "I used to use it all the time to help a snorlax that lives near here, but I'm getting so old I don't have the strength to play its song."

Kyle stared at the flute and rubbed the pokeball shape on it. "We'll make good use of it sir."

"Very good, now be off with you." He walked into the tower without another word.

"I hope he'll be alright." I said as I watched him leave.

"I'm sure he will, but come on, we've got to be off to Celadon City." Kyle packed away the flute and pressed the release button to the pokeball around his neck.

**x-x-x**

"Chief! I'm sorry I'm late! I got held up in Rock Tunnel from those kids' antics. Where are they? In lock up?" Jenny began walking down the hall to the cells.

"Oh, Jenny. Are you speaking of those kids you called in about? We tailed them. Ended up they were being possessed by some local gastly." The chief sat at his desk, tapping his pencil.

"What?" Jenny stopped. "That may be, though I doubt it." Jenny slammed her hands down on the chief's desk. "You mean you let them go?"

"What? Why yes. I did." The chief scratched at his moustache.

"Drat!" Jenny said angrily. Her growlithe licked her hand, trying to calm her.

"What's wrong?" The chief scooted back in his chair.

"I didn't get a good look at the girl, but I know the boy was from a missing persons report in Viridian City that I was investigating." She sighed. "I guess I'll have to start looking for them all over again."

**x-x-x**

As we hopped off from riding on Arcanine. Kyle hugged him so tight, he all but disappeared in the beast's fur. "I can't believe I have an Arcanine!" He squealed.

"I know!" I pet Pichu who was playfully hiding in my bag. "I'm really happy for you."

"Me too!" He stroked Arcanine's fur gently. "He's so cool."

"Yep." I reached to pull Pichu out, and he ran for Kyle. "I wish Pichu liked me better…" I said softly, not intending to be heard.

Kyle reached down to let the rodent crawl up his arm. "Well, if you keep spending time with him, maybe he will."

"I guess, but I think he's going to end up being yours." I said.

"Hey. Don't say that." Kyle gave a look that said he didn't like the idea.

"Pi! Pichu!" Pichu playfully rubbed his cheek against Kyle's as he sat on his shoulder.

"Crazy thing." Kyle sighed. "It won't even go into a pokeball. It must live on annoying me." He laughed.

"Nah." I shook my head. "He's scared of the confinement. Just like his dad."

Kyle looked surprised. "His dad?"

"Uh, yeah. I figured out that his dad belongs to a friend of my cousin Brock. Last time I talked to him he told me that they were in that daycare on that day." I looked down. "But the good news is, his friend's pikachu is really strong, so that Pichu is bound to be too!" I smiled.

"This little guy?" Kyle looked at the Pichu asleep on his shoulder. "No way."

We continued walking down the street until we entered Celadon City.

"Celadon City! I've been waiting for this!" I gazed at the city, starry eyed.

"Yeah! I know!" Kyle replied. "The next gym battle's here!"

"Huh? It is?" I looked at him curiously.

"Yeah, isn't that what you were excited about?" Asked Kyle.

"Um, no. I'm talking about that!" I pointed at the largest building in the city. "The Celadon City Department Store!" I squealed. "I'm going shopping!"

"Oh no you don't!" Kyle backed away. "I am not being drug into some store so you can look at girly things!" He spoke in such a way it stirred Pichu from his sleep.

"Pi!" Scared, Pichu gave Kyle a light shock.

"Ow! What'd you do that for?" he glared at Pichu.

"Pi…" Pichu started to tear up.

"Aw, gosh. Don't cry now. I'm sorry." He pet the rodent's head with one finger, calming it.

"It's not like I'm just going for me!" I interrupted. The Department Store has all kinds of items for pokemon too you know!"

"I didn't know that, but we really don't have time." He walked on. "Let's just go get the badge and go."

"But Kyle!" I gave my best puppy dog eyes. "I was really looking forward to this." I lowered my head and began sobbing.

"Oh no, don't you cry too!" Kyle whined. "Man, I can't catch a break. Fine, we'll go in the store together."

"Thank you!" I wiped away the tears. "Let's go then!"

Kyle held me back and gave me a firm look. "Hold up. I'll only go, if you agree to go somewhere with me."


	14. Shopping Sprees and Fighting Trees!

**x-x-x**

Episode 14: Shopping Sprees and Fighting Trees!

"Follow me." Kyle said softly as we walked behind the buildings. There was a canopy of trees around us and the sun shone through the leaves in patches.

"Where are you taking me Kyle?" I blushed as I spoke. "This place is kinda romantic."

Kyle laughed. "Well I hate to break up your daydream, but we're going in here." He turned the knob to the back door of an apartment building.

"Oh." I said disheartened as I walked inside the building. "Why'd we take the back way?"

"It's less crowded in the back, the front's always packed." He said very matter-of-factly.

We stopped in front of a door with a lovely decoration on the front. Kyle knocked on the door. I stared at him curiously as an elderly woman opened the door to greet us. She gasped as she caught sight of him.

I looked up at Kyle carefully and watched his face turn serious.

"Hello Granny."

I must have looked surprised. Or at least I felt it.

"Kyle," The woman opened the door wide. "C'mon on in. Bring your friend too." She stepped inside the room. We followed her into what was a large living area with a nidoran, a meowth, and a clefairy walking around in it. Pichu hopped from Kyle's shoulder to play with the others, and we sat on the couch as the elderly woman took a seat across from us.

"Kyle." She frowned. "I was real worried when your mom called and told me you'd run off. We've all been worried."

"Please…" Kyle leaned forward slowly. "You don't understand. Let me explain why I had to do it." He looked tense, and I wondered if he was worried his grandmother would turn him in. "All my life I've wanted to be a pokemon trainer, and when the time came where I could go get my first pokemon, I begged Mom to let me go start my journey. She refused to let me go, and everytime I tried to run off on my own, she'd catch me. It was four long years I waited." He sat back, taking a deep breath. "Everyday she told me, 'No Kyle! You can't be a pokemon trainer! You're going to grow up and have a respectable job. Not as some deadbeat trainer who comes crying back to me when they can't get their first badge!' I had to listen to that constantly. Eventually I gave up and just stayed locked up in my room all the time."

"Your mother is a very persistent, and stubborn woman. She probably was just afraid to let you go." The older woman slumped in her chair, sipping her tea.

Kyle stroked the pokeball that held Arcanine. "Then one day while I was out on my way back home from my job, I saw growlithe. He was huddled up in a ball and scared. I knew I had to take care of him. I took my paycheck and used it to buy a pokeball for him. We ran off together to fulfill my dream."

"Kyle…" I whispered. "I had no idea that's why you ran away."

"I figured as much." The woman raised up. "I'm not going to tell her you've been here, but I think you should let her know you're okay."

"Wait a few days, and tell her for me. Okay?" Kyle said sadly.

"I understand. I know you don't want this, but I suppose it's the way it'll have to be." There was a moment of silence. "Oh my, how rude of me. Who is this lady friend of yours? Did you find a girlfriend on your travels?"

Kyle and I looked at each other and blushed. "She's just a friend!" He blurted.

"We're rivals!" I said playfully. "My name's Shonna."

"Oh, so you must be a trainer as well!" Granny began pouring tea. "Would you like some?"

"Not me, I'm not big on tea." I replied. Kyle happily took a glass.

"Well is there anything else I can get you?"

"No, that's alright. Thanks anyway ma'am." I smiled.

"How very polite. Kyle, this girl's a keeper."

Kyle blushed and turned away.

I watched and listened as Kyle and his Granny spoke for a while, but we didn't stay much longer. Pichu returned to Kyle's shoulder and we left the room.

"Come back and visit me sometime Kyle. I enjoyed yours and Shonna's company." Kyle's grandmother smiled before closing the door shut.

"Your granny's real sweet." I said, as I smiled up at Kyle.

"Yeah, I wish Mom was like that." He sighed.

"I'm sorry about that." I looked away sadly.

"Its alright. I'll have to face her again anyway. We'll be passing through Viridian City again before the Indigo League."

"That's true." I watched as Pichu's ear twitched. He leaped from Kyle's shoulder and raced up the stairwell. "Where's he think he's going?"

"I don't know, but we better follow him." Kyle replied as we chased after him.

"How many floors does this apartment complex have?" I questioned after the third flight.

"I don't remember. I think six or seven." He continued running up the stairs.

I sighed. After the fourth my legs were burning.

**x-x-x**

At the buildings roof, we spotted Pichu creeping through a slightly ajar door to a small room. We walked in quietly but were startled by loud snoring. A fat man wearing a tank top and shorts was sound asleep on a couch. Pichu was bouncing on his stomach.

"Pichu!" We whispered. "Get over here!"

"Pi?" Pichu turned toward us curiously before letting off a happy spark, shocking the man.

"Agh!" He jumped up and grabbed Pichu.

"Pi!" Pichu called out frightened.

"Stop!" Kyle shouted. "Let him go!"

"What are you kids doing up here?" The man let go of Pichu and the baby pokemon ran to Kyle sniveling. It hid behind his legs.

"We're sorry our pokemon woke you, but you shouldn't have scared it like that!" I called out.

"Say what? I'm the landlord here and I can do as I please! That rat shocked the fire out of me!"

"C'mon Shonna let's just go." Kyle picked up Pichu and turned to leave.

"Hey hold up just a minute!" The landlord snorted. "You all trainers?"

"What's it to ya?" I asked, highly agitated.

"Jeez. Calm down woman and hear me out." The landlord walked over to two pokeballs sitting on a desk. "I had a tenant recently who I found out was breeding eevee for pure profit in my building. I sent him an eviction notice and demanded he pay his first month's rent. One day he up and left leaving nothing but these two pokeballs in his room. I don't know where the guy is now, but I can't take care of these things. Truth is I can't stand pokemon." He muttered. "Won't cha take em off my hands?"

"Gladly." I said as I scooped up the pokeballs and slammed the door behind us.

"I've never seen you so mad." Kyle teased.

"Here." I placed a pokeball in his hand. "One for you and one for me."

"Oh. Okay." He said, as he followed me down the stairwell.

**x-x-x**

I gazed at the tall building, looking all the way up until I almost fell backwards. I smiled widely as I dashed through the glass doors. I looked around every aisle, every rack, scooping up tons of items in my arms.

"You seem happier." Kyle yawned.

"I can't help it, I love shopping." I grinned. "Hold this stuff for me please." I said as I passed over my armful of stuff to him.

"I have to carry the stuff too?" Kyle complained.

"Yep, and hold them while I try these outfits on." I grabbed an outfit and rushed to the dressing rooms. As I showed Kyle some of the outfits I chose, we laughed and I could tell that though he would never admit it, Kyle was having fun too. I finally settled on an outfit, and took it to the front counter. I began digging through my purse for a handful of Duchess's coins. Before I could find them, Kyle laid down the cash on the counter. "I was going to pay for that!"

"Don't worry about it," He smiled. "I still have plenty."

"Well, if that's the case, I have one more thing I want." I pointed to a pretty blue stone under the glass counter.

Kyle smiled again. "One water stone too miss."

The clerk wrapped the stone up in paper and placed it in the bag with my outfit. She handed it and the change to Kyle, and he carried it as we walked out the store.

I watched as we walked beside each other. A strange idea struck me as I suddenly wanted to cling to his arm, or at least hold his hand. I blushed. _Did I actually have a crush on Kyle? Couldn't be._ I shook off my embarrassment to speak up and get my mind off it.

"Thank you, for earlier." I spoke. "You didn't have to buy me that stuff."

"Well, like I told you, I still have plenty." He stared into the distance. Pichu was again nuzzled in his hair. "Hey, do you want to wear this outfit now? Or send it home through the PC?"

"I dunno, it'd be nice. What do you think? Did I look good in it?" I smiled.

Kyle looked somewhat surprised by the question. "Sure, you looked nice in it."

I blushed. "Then I'll wear it now. Can I stop at the pokecenter to change?"

"Yeah, it's just up ahead." He handed me the bag. "I'll wait here for you."

I took the bag and walked through the glass doors. I went to a bathroom and changed into my new jeans. They had stylish designs on them, unlike my old plain ones. They had stitched on flowers that made me feel like a hippie. The t-shirt had matching flowers trailing up the side. I also bought a jacket. It was somewhat military style like Kyle's, only pink. I packed up the old outfit and sent it home via PC. I healed my pokemon in preparation for the upcoming gym battle, and walked out to greet Kyle.

"Aren't you going to heal your pokemon Kyle?" I snuck up behind him.

"No, don't need to." Kyle put his hands to his hips and laughed as he walked toward the gym. I shook my head, not sure what he meant by that. I assumed he was just being cocky again.

**x-x-x**

We walked into the greenhouse-like gym and marveled at the grass pokemon that surrounded us. Up ahead, the gym leader was giving water to some baby oddish.

"Hello there!" I called out. "We're here to challenge the gym leader!"

"Oh hello," The leader turned to greet us. "My name is Erica, come with me if you want to battle." She led us into a large grassy arena that was covered in bright sunlight. "So, which of you will go first?"

Kyle stepped forward. "I really think I should just take the badge, if it's all right with you."

"No," Erica frowned. "I'm afraid you must earn the badge."

Kyle released Arcanine. The large dog stood firm in the ring. It snorted, releasing small embers that burned the grass underfoot.

"Okay! Okay!" Erica waved her hands in defense. "I'll give it to you. Just put that thing away before it burns the place down."

Arcanine stomped out the fire before returning to its ball.

"Good luck Shonna, I'll cheer for you." Kyle said as he took his badge.

"That's not fair! You said he had to earn it!" I cried.

"That was before I found out he had that… thing." Erica explained.

"Well, if you give him one, you'll have to give me one!"

"Do you have a fire-type like that?" Erica asked.

"Well… no." I said hesitantly.

"Than you have to earn it."

"What?" I shouted.

"I'll be rooting for you." Kyle took his bench. "Hey, do you want to borrow any of my pokemon?"

"No way!" I said. "I'm going to earn this badge the honest way." I glared him, a little mad at his easy win.

Kyle just laughed, which only made me more mad.

"Okay then, if your ready, the rules are a single battle, I may not switch out." Erica took her place on the stand.

"Fine by me." I stood on the opposite stand, and reached for my first pokeball.

"That's a very pretty outfit you have on there." Erica giggled. "I like all the flowers."

"You would. You are a grass-type leader after all." I laughed. "But thanks. I like your kimono too."

"Oh do you? I just picked it up at the department store yesterday." She adjusted the wrinkles on her dress.

"Hey that's where I got mine!" I smiled. "That store's so cool. Your so lucky to live next to one."

"Sure am! And I'm able to get all kinds of supplies for the pokemon there too! Like leaf stones and…" Ericka bantered.

"Ladies!" Kyle coughed. "I'd like to see this battle before the day ends please."

"Oh, right." I said sadly. It'd been a while since I'd been able to talk about girl stuff with someone.

"Well then, let's begin" Erica tossed her pokeball into the air. "Go Tangela!"

I began focusing in. _Battle mode Shonna. What to use against a Tangela? Okay!_

"Go Duchess!" I threw the pokeball out onto the stage. My Persian hopped out and sat onto the soft grass.

"Hmm, I don't know what your strategy is, but I won't give you a chance to use it. Tangela! Razor Leaf!"

"Cancel it out with Pay day!" I called. Duchess hurled coins at the twirling leaves, striking every one.

"That was smart, but cancel this!" Ericka yelled. "Tangela Vine Whip!"

"Playtime Duchess! Get that thing!"

Duchess's eyes sparkled as she watched the two vines come toward her. She smacked one down, pushing her paws onto in it. She watched feverishly as it wiggled beneath her paws, and as the second went to strike her, she caught it in her teeth.

"What?" Erica seemed surprised. "Tangela, draw them back in!"

The vine creeped back into the mess of a pokemon, but as they pulled back, Duchess chased after them like they were a toy.

She pounced the Tangela and began rolling it around the arena. She gnawed and clawed at the thing as if it were a ball of yarn. I laughed in amusement.

"Oh no! Tangela!" Erica screamed. "Tangela! Quickly! Ingrain!"

The Tangela pulled roots from within itself and buried them into the ground. Duchess pawed at the pokemon, but couldn't move it anymore. The tangela began slowly gaining health. Duchess looked up at me sadly.

"Well, what are you waiting for?" I questioned. "Duchess! Dig it up!"

The cat grinned as it dug its claws into the dirt and uprooted the plant. It continued its playing and bounced Tangela across the room until it fainted.

"Tangela, return!" Erica recalled her pokemon. "Well that certainly was an interesting way of beating my pokemon." She reached for a new pokeball. "Go Victreebell!"

_A victreebell. I need to be careful here. That's going to be much tougher than a tangela. But which one would do the job?_ "Return Duchess!" I reluctantly threw out Pikachu.

"Bad choice." I heard Kyle whisper. I knew he was right, but as long as I only used her normal attacks, maybe it'd be okay.

"A Pikachu?" Ericka looked confused. "Well, Victreebell, use wrap!"

The plants long vines spread out and grabbed Pikachu tight.

"Pi! Pika!" She cried out.

"Pi! Chu!" Pichu hopped out of Kyle's lap but was quickly caught.

"It's ok little guy. This is what I battle looks like." Kyle pet Pichu. "It's tough. But someday you'll be out there too."

Pichu looked up at Kyle with tears in its eyes. After that, it only looked more scared.

"I've got to do something, but what?" I held onto the railing tight.

"Pika!" Pikachu under the strain let off a small discharge. It was enough to paralyze Victreebell.

"Static yes!" I cheered as Pikachu squirmed out of Victreebell's grip. "Okay! Now Pikachu, use quick attack!"

Pikachu darted around the room while pounding into the Victreebell. It struggled to move.

"Victreebell!" Erica called out. "Try to use Giga Drain!"

The Victreebell couldn't budge an inch.

"Yeah! Now Pikachu use Slam!" I called, making use of the opportunity.

Pikachu used the momentum of her speed, and hit Victreebell with a powerful tackle. The Victreebell fell back, and bobbled back up. It again, tried using giga drain, this time succeeding and it scooped Pikachu into its mouth. It began draining the energy from her, and restoring itself.

"Chaa!" Pikachu cried again.

"It may not do much damage, but it may get you out of there." I said. "Pikachu, give it your best Thunderbolt!"

Pikachu charged up and released a might thunderbolt within the plants mouth. It didn't seem to hurt it too much, but it was enough to get it to let Pikachu loose. Pikachu stood on its four legs looking weak, before hitting the ground with a thud.

"Good job Pikachu! Return!" I called out. "All right then. Your foe's bound to be hurting, so I know you can do it. Eevee!"

"Again, a bad choice!" Kyle yelled this time. "You haven't even got to train that thing yet!"

"True, but I did find time to teach it a TM." I watched the cute little fox look around the room. "Eevee! Attack that Victreebell with Secret Power!"

"Victreebell! Try Giga Drain!" Erica yelled.

The victreebell couldn't respond due to its still lingering paralysis. Eevee glowed bright green as it took in its surroundings. Blades of tall grass lifted from the ground and sharpened. They were hurled into Victreebell. Unable to get away, Eevee finished with a tackle that knocked Victreebell all the way back, knocked out.

"Return Victreebell!" Erica recalled. "I must say, you're really good! One of the better trainers I've seen." She put away her pokeball. "But unfortunately for you, I've saved my best for last."

"Return Eevee!" Eevee returned to its ball as I readied my next one. "Well lucky for me, so have I." I threw out the ball, and Butterfree floated to the ground.

"We'll see how it fairs against my newest addition." As Erica said these words, the ground started shaking. A tree from the rear of the room began shaking and moving across the ground, toward the center of the stage. "These pokemon are often mistaken for moving forests." The tree lifted from the ground to reveal the pokemon underneath.

"What the heck is that thing?" Kyle asked.

"It's a Torterra." I replied. "But how? Those are only found in the Sinnoh region, where I'm from."

"You're from Sinnoh? Wow." Erica smiled. "I took a trip up there, beautiful place. I caught a turtwig there and brought it back here to raise."

"I must say, its really cool looking." I studied the torterra. "I wouldn't mind having one of those someday myself."

"I know! It is so cool looking right? I usually like cuter pokemon but this one's special too!" Erica beamed.

"Ladies!" Kyle coughed again. "Again, we don't have all day to chit chat."

"But of course." Erica pushed her hair behind her headband. "Let's end this then. Torterra! Earthquake!"

Butterfree took flight unaffected, before the ground started shaking. I wasn't so lucky and fell flat on my bum. Erica laughed.

"I think you just did that to embarrass me." I chuckled as I stood up.

"Yep, now the real battle begins." Ericka snickered. "Torterra, Razor Leaf!"

"Blow them away with gust!" I called.

The sharp leaves flew toward Butterfree, and he used his powerful wings to push them right back. The gust attack hit Torterra as well, but did much less damage then it should have.

"Torterra's part ground type. It's also very heavy and so some wind won't do much against it." Erica leaned against the rail. "Now Torterra, try Vine Whip!"

"Butterfree! Confusion!" I lowered my voice. "This should finish it."

Butterfree glowed bright purple before letting his attack hit. It twisted the vines into a tight knot. The torterra swirled the ball around in a confused frenzy. Butterfree dodged, and the knot came back and hit Torterra in the head. It knocked it out.

"Return Torterra. Very well, I concede defeat." Erica reached for a piece of paper. She scribbled something on it and handed it and the badge to me. I read the paper. It had a number written on it. "It's my phone number. That way we can talk more, without him interrupting." Erica whispered.

We giggled and pointed at Kyle, making him wonder just what we were talking about. I ran toward him.

"What was that about?" Kyle raised one eyebrow inquisitively.

"I made a friend." I giggled as I pulled him out of the gym.

**x-x-x**

I healed my pokemon and followed Kyle as we headed out of Celedon.

"Hey hold up Kyle." I stopped. "Shouldn't we be going the other way?"

"Huh? Why?" Kyle turned.

"Well, there's a gym in Saffron City, right?" I tilted my head curiously.

"You're right." Kyle looked down. "I forgot about that."

"Okay, it's this way!" I turned to walk the other way.

"Wait Shonna." Kyle stopped me. "That gym is psychic type. It'll be tough. Are you sure you're ready for that?"

"Hmm… I pulled out a pokeball and a package. You're right. There is something I want to do first." I released Eevee and she sat cutely on the ground. I unwrapped the water stone and placed it in my hand.

"You're evolving it already?" Kyle walked around to watch.

"Yeah, I just taught her Bite, and I'm going to need a water type soon enough." I touched the water stone to Eevee. A bright white light shown from her body as fins and gills spurted out. Her fluffy tail turned mermaid-like and smooth.

"Poreon!" Vaporeon barked.

I giggled. "So pretty." I placed her back in her pokeball and stood. "Are you going to evolve yours Kyle? We could go to the store and get a stone."

"No, I don't think so." Kyle stared at his Eevee's pokeball. "I think I'll wait a while longer."

"Suit yourself." I walked off toward the gate to Saffron. "Do you still have some of your grandma's tea? I heard the guards are real parched."

"Yeah, I do." Kyle pulled out the thermos as we approached the guard.

"Hold it there folks!" The guard stopped us. "I'm so thirsty! I just can't open the gate until I get something to drink."

"Here." Kyle pushed the thermos into the guards arms. The guard slurped down the tea, and pushed open the door.

"Ah! That was great! Thanks kids!" He threw the thermos back at us. We just rolled our eyes as we walked through the gate. Yellow skyscrapers towered over us. We walked down to the smallest building of the city, the Saffron City Gym.

"Listen Shonna. You go on in there if you want, but I think I need to train some more before fighting this gym." Kyle said.

"Oh, I'm sorry Kyle. You should have told me. That's fine." I smiled. "We can always come back."

"Thanks, he smiled. "Lets head to Fuchsia City. There's a cycling path on the way. I really want to take my bike out on it." He grinned.


	15. The Shiny Bike and Shiny Tike!

**x-x-x**

Episode 15: The Shiny Bike and Shiny Tike!

"Gosh, I'm sorry Kyle. Doesn't look like we'll be able to go on Cycling Road." I stared up at the large blob in front of me. "What is this thing blocking the road anyway?"

"It's a Snorlax. You've never seen one where you're from?" Kyle replied.

"I have… but do the ones here make a habit of sleeping in the roads?"

"Actually, they do."

"Well how do we plan on getting around this thing" I scratched my head.

"Easy, with this." Kyle pulled out the pokeflute Mr. Fuji gave us.

"Oh yeah! Lemme' try!" I jerked the flute out of his hand and played a hideous tune that only made the Snorlax groan angrily. "Ah shucks." I handed the flute back to him.

"Okay, let's see." He put the flute to his lips and played a lovely tune.

"Hey! How'd you do that?" I asked.

"I guess I have an ear for music, that's all." Kyle put the flute away and backed up. "Now, good luck fighting that thing."

"What?" I turned to see an angry Snorlax staring me down.

"Snor!" The monster yelled out.

"Ack! Um, um, go… whatever you are!" I threw out the first pokeball I grabbed. Pikachu hopped from the ball and stared up at Snorlax. She turned to me with a look that said, "You want me to fight that?" I looked back at her and nodded. "Pikachu, try Slam!"

Pikachu pounced into the Snorlax's gut full force, but the fat caused her to bounce right back. Pikachu flopped onto the ground, and the Snorlax flopped on top of her.

"On no! Pikachu!" I cried. I tried pulling the fat pokemon off of her but couldn't. Kyle joined in, awakening Pichu from its slumber. The rodent heard its mother's cry and jumped from Kyle's head. Pichu charged up in an angry fit and let loose a powerful charge around it. It ran and tackled Snorlax hard enough to knock it back. The Snorlax raised up. I scooped up Pikachu and jumped back.

"Yes! That's great! Okay Pichu! Give it a Thundershock!" Kyle called out.

The electric energy around Pichu fizzled out and it stared at Kyle with a confused look. "Pi?"

"Snor!" Snorlax stomped over to Pichu and roared at him.

"Pi!" Pichu began crying and ran for Kyle's arms.

"Aw c'mon Pichu. How come you won't fight for me?" Kyle whined.

"Kyle look out! Snorlax is after you!" Pikachu and I watched helplessly as Snorlax chased after them.

Kyle swiftly reached for a pokeball and threw it out. Arcanine appeared between them and the Snorlax. The dog was almost as large as the Snorlax and when the two clashed, I almost fell from the impact. Arcanine pushed the behemoth back, and blew flames on it. The agitated Snorlax took off into the forest.

"Good job Arcanine." Kyle pet Arcanine, and returned it to its ball. Kyle walked up to me looking concerned. "How's Pikachu?" Pichu hopped to my shoulder to look down on its mom. Pikachu leaned up and gave Pichu a quick lick.

"I think she'll be fine. But she deserves some rest." I placed her back in the ball. "That Snorlax was tough!"

"Yeah Snorlax are. It would have been a good one to catch." Pichu leaped back to Kyle's shoulder to rest. "You know, now that I think about it, you haven't really 'caught' a single pokemon have you?"

"What?" I looked stunned. "I have so!"

"Let's see," Kyle continued. "Duchess came with you to save her butt from a pack of mutts, Butterfree wanted to thank you for helping his friends, Pikachu and Pichu were given to you, and that man dumped an Eevee on you." Kyle laughed. "That means you haven't officially caught a pokemon yet!"

"But I…" I thought about it for a while. "Its true I haven't battled to catch any of my pokemon, but that doesn't mean I can't!"

"Chill." Kyle laughed. "I'm only messing with ya, you don't have to get so worked up."

"I'll show you!" I stomped into a nearby patch of tall grass. "I can catch a pokemon too!"

Kyle smiled and shook his head before following after me.

I looked around in the tall grass, nothing but pidgey and rattata were around though. Suddenly my eye caught on a glimpse of bright red through the trees. I peeked around the shrubbery to see a herd of ponyta and rapidash grazing in a nearby meadow. Their bright red flames glistened in the sunlight. But as I was admiring the sight, I noticed a hint of purple. No, blue, that was mixing in with the red. _Yes!_ A ponyta stood in the middle of the herd with bright blue flames.

"Which one are you going for?" Kyle whispered as he hunkered down beside me.

"The little blue-flamed one there." I pointed.

"Oh wow! That's a shiny ponyta." Kyle smiled.

"Shiny?" I asked.

"That's what they call a pokemon with a different coloring than usual. They're very rare."

"Awesome. That's the one I'm going to get." I grinned confidently.

"Good luck then." Kyle sat down to watch.

I crept up to the group and worked my way to the back, where the shiny was. My foot caught on a twig and it was enough to startle the herd. The adult rapidash and the baby ponyta looked up at me with a face that was hard to read. I couldn't tell if they were all going to run off, or if they were going to stampede me. After a brief pause I got my answer, as the group began kicking their heels, running full speed toward me. The rapidash pointed their sharp horns toward me.

"Oh shoot! Butterfree! Help me!" I released the bug who scooped me up and flew into the air. "Okay Butterfree, let's follow them." We flew high above the herd and Butterfree dropped me to a nearby tree. "If I'm going to have a chance of catching that Ponyta, I'll have to wait until it's alone." I watched unseen from the tree as the ponyta stayed close to a rapidash. "It's still young, so it looks like I'm going to have to wait a while."

I waited there for what felt like an hour or so. Finally after my long, uncomfortable wait, I spied the ponyta walking over to a pond a couple thousand feet away. "Now's our chance Butterfree. Let's go get it!" I held Butterfree's feet as we floated down to the pond. Ponyta was drinking some water when it caught sight of me in the water's reflection. It raised up and spotted us, and began crying out for help. "Uh oh! Hurry Butterfree! Use Confusion!" The attack hit Ponyta and made it stumble to the ground. In a confused state, it fumbled and fell to the ground once more. I could feel and hear the rest of the herd running toward us. "No! I can't miss this chance! Butterfree, dust some sleep powder on it!"

Butterfree sprinkled the sleep powder over Ponyta. Eventually it quit thrashing and settled down to sleep.

"Alright! Now's my chance!" I could see small pebbles rustling on the ground from the herd drawing near. I held up a great ball and threw it at the ponyta. The ball rolled on the ground three times and clicked shut. I smiled from ear to ear as I held my new pokemon in my hands. "I caught it… I caught it!" I called out. My happiness was short lived as a large rapidash pushed me into the pond angrily. I swam to the surface and looked at the fuming horse. "I promise, I'll take good care of him." I said softly. The rapidash snorted and walked the other way. I couldn't tell if it knew I was telling the truth, or if it just knew there was nothing it could do about it.

I climbed out of the pond dripping wet. I thanked Butterfree and returned it to his ball. Kyle walked through the bushes to greet me.

"Looks like you had to go through a lot of trouble for it, but did you catch it?" He reached me a towel from his backpack.

"Yep, its right here." I dried my face off and released the ponyta. His bright blue flames glistened. "He's so pretty!" I reached over to pet him, but was quickly burned. I stuck my hand in the pond, relieving the pain. "Ouch! How am I going to be able to ride him if I can't even touch him?"

Ponyta looked at us nervously, he was shaking.

Kyle dug through his pack and pulled out a can of pokefood. "I think you have to earn a ponyta's trust before it will let you touch it. Try this." He handed me the can.

I put some treats in my hand and held it out to Ponyta. He retreated, backing up the closer I got. I got the notion to place one on the ground, and give Ponyta his space. After a minute, he crept up to it, smelling the treat, and bit into it. He seemed pleased, so I held out my hand again, this time with two treats. Letting him come to me, he scooped up the treats, and backed away to eat them.

"Well, that's a good start." I nodded as I recalled him to the ball.

"I can't believe you caught a shiny." Kyle grumbled.

"Told you I could!" I snickered.

"I didn't doubt you, but man." Kyle sighed.

"Hehe. It is pretty cool, isn't it?" I tugged at his jacket sleeve. "Hey you ready for cycling road?"

"Sure am!" Kyle grinned as he pulled out the storage case for his bike.

**x-x-x**

"This is it?" I asked as I stared down the seemingly endless bridge. "Well it has a real pretty view of the ocean."

"Yep, it passes right over it." Kyle replied as he wiped some bugs off the front of his bike. "It'll be a lot quicker with this though. I bet you're glad you joined up with me or you wouldn't be crossing this bridge."

I took my seat in the back. "Well, I don't have a bike, so yeah it would have made things difficult."

Kyle sat in front, and was getting ready to drive, when Pichu popped out from his backpack.

"Pi! Cha!" Pichu hopped in and out of the bag, as if he were playing peek-a-boo.

"Do me a favor and take care of him, make sure he doesn't fall out or anything." Kyle said as we started cruising.

"Aw, you really worry about him don't you?" I said cutely, taking Pichu in my arms.

"It's not that!" Kyle retorted. "I just don't want mouse guts on my back wheel. That's all."

I giggled, knowing he cared. Then as that image floated into my mind, I stuck out my tongue in disgust. "Eww! Gross!"

We laughed as we picked up speed. The breeze and the smell from the ocean felt good, and I watched the world go by, taking in the moment.

Loud voices and blaring metal music interrupted my daydreams. A gang of bikers approached us on either side. One to our left was significantly larger, and rode a bike around the same size as Kyle's. It was black however, and had flames and metal pieces decorating it. Another biker, to our right was much more lanky, and skinny. They had bright mohawks and piercings.

"Well what have we here?" The skinny man shouted across to his friend. "Hey Buck, looks like this guy's bike is bigger than yours!"

"Yeah, he must think he's a tough guy huh Jed?" The bigger man matched his speed with ours, and Jed followed suit.

Kyle eyed the men but didn't speak to them as he continued driving. They however, were making me nervous so I decided to speak up.

"Why don't you goons leave us alone? Go take your tough guy act somewhere else!" I yelled.

"Oh, feisty one. I like that." Buck winked at me. "What do you say Jed, how's this one look to you?"

"Hmm…" Jed paused before answering. "Sure, I'd do her." He snickered.

Kyle glared at Jed. I, stunned, just gave a disgusted look.

"Yeah, I think so too. What do you say baby?" Buck looked me up and down and grinned. "You know what, you're coming with us." Buck reached out to grab my arm.

Kyle pulled to an abrupt stop. The gang pulled away, but quickly turned back around. Buck and Jed appeared to be the leaders. They pulled up in front of us.

"Hey how does this sound Buck? We mug the guy of his fancy bike and his money, and then we take his girl?" Jed laughed hysterically.

"You're no fun Jed. It's been a while since we've had a good battle." Buck grinned. "What do you say tough guy? You and the hot babe wanna do a double battle against us?"

"Sure." Kyle said calmly as we stepped off his bike and he put it away. I placed Pichu back in Kyle's backpack to keep him from bothering us.

"I want to spend as little time with you creeps as possible. So just two on two, Kapeesh?" I tapped my foot nervously.

The pair looked at each other and began counting on their fingers. "Uh, whatever you say babe!" Jed called out.

"What idiots." I said under my breath. "Okay, then I'll choose Butterfree!"

Kyle threw out his Arcanine. Jed released a grimer, and Buck had a koffing.

"Grimer" Jed cried. "Poison Gas!"

"Butterfree! Blow it away with Gust!"

Grimer released a toxic gas into the air, but Butterfree swiftly flapped its wings blowing it away.

"Arcanine! Flamethrower!"

Arcanine used the gust attack and toxic gas to its advantage and blew a powerful mass of flames that engulfed both grimer and koffing.

"Uh oh." Buck looked dumbfounded. "Uh, okay! Self Destruct!" Jed looked at him, mouth open, but unable to speak.

"Butterfree! Fly up high!"

"Arcanine! Dig!"

As Butterfree took to the air, and Arcanine clawed under the pavement to avoid the blast, the Koffing began flashing erratically before exploding on nothing but the grimer beside it. Both pokemon were knocked out from the blast.

"You dumb dumb! Why'd you do that?" Jed yelled at Buck.

"Wow, that was easy." I returned Butterfree.

"These guys were nothing but hot air." Kyle replied as he recalled Arcanine from the support beams below.

"Hot air maybe," Buck said as he stomped over to us. "But at least we always get the hot babe!"

I screamed as he grabbed my arm and jerked me hard toward him.

"Don't touch her!" Kyle yelled as he ran over and punched Buck in the face, striking him hard enough to let me go. I ran to Kyle and hid behind him.

Buck held his hand to his face angrily. The rest of the bike gang stood stunned.

"What are you fools waiting for?" Buck ordered. "Get him!"

The bikers began running toward us, ready for a fight. They stopped unexpectedly to the sound of the police siren. The gang retreated to their bikes and took off. Buck hopped on his and followed. Jed did the same, but turned to give us an evil look before leaving.

Officer Jenny pulled up to us in her bike and stopped beside us.

"Well Kyle Gray from Viridian, you certainly don't make yourself hard to find speeding through caves and picking fights on bridges." She sneered. "Just give up and come with me. It's time you went on home."

"There's no way I'm giving up yet." Kyle backed up to the border of the bridge. He put one leg up and back, then the other, standing on the edge. He held out a hand for me to join him. "Do you trust me?"

"What?" I stared at him confused.

"Do you trust me?" He again, held out his hand.

"What are you doing?" Officer Jenny looked suddenly scared. "Get down from there!"

I took his hand and climbed up the bridge's edge. It was such a small ledge, we were forced to stand close enough together to where our bodies touched. "I do." I felt his arms wrap around me and a sudden falling as the wind whipped through my hair.

"No! Don't do it!" Jenny cried as she tried to run after us. She dashed to the bridge's edge and peered over the side. She watched furiously as the gyarados swam into the distance. "Keep running, but you're going to have to go home eventually." She kicked her bike as she grumbled those words.


	16. Beedrill’s Fuchsia City Friends!

**x-x-x**

Episode 16: Beedrill's Fuchsia City Friends!

We washed up on a beach somewhere close to Fuchsia City. It was secluded, seemingly untouched by human disturbances. A few krabby lurked about, but when they saw us they buried into the sand. It was already dark and cold from the night, too late to start heading for Fuchsia City. We gathered up some driftwood and Arcanine started a fire. I huddled by the fire, pulling out the pokemon egg from my bag.

"Wow, I almost forgot you had that." Kyle said pulling out a pot and various foods.

"I know, I've been giving it attention every now and then," I pet the egg which was still and cold. "I would have thought it would have hatched by now, I got Pichu at around the same time, and he hatched a long time ago." I held my egg closer to the fire and watched Pichu curl into Kyle's lap.

"Well, it's not dead, or it would have started smelling by now." Kyle said as he stirred a soup in the pot. "If you get tired of toting it around, I could make a mean scrambled egg out of it." He joked.

"No!" I held the egg close to me, wrapping my arms around it.

Kyle laughed. "Soup's on. Wanna feed the pokemon?"

"Sure. Just don't touch my egg." I glared as I set it down in the sand. I grabbed some bowls and sat them down spaced far enough away from each other. I poured pokefood in them as I went along. I also placed a large and small one by the ocean for Gyarados and Vaporeon. "Okay then, chow time everyone!" I released all my pokemon, and Kyle did likewise. They scattered for the bowls. Gyarados and Vaporeon took to the water. Pikachu and Pichu ate together happily. Ponyta warily watched the other pokemon as he stood above his bowl. I approached him slowly. "Hey, it's okay Ponyta. Nobody is going to hurt you here." I sat beside him to be less intimidating.

Ponyta gradually approached the bowl, sniffing and lapping up the food.

"Good. See, everything's okay." I reached out to pet him on his side. He let me pet him for a few moments before turning to look at me. I put my hand down and smiled at him. Ponyta continued eating. I decided to leave him alone and walk back to Kyle. I sat down beside him and took a bowl of soup.

"How's the training with Ponyta going?" He asked.

"Pretty good, I still didn't try touching the flames, but he did let me pet him."

"That's good." He slurped down the last of his soup and after making sure they were finished, recalled his pokemon. I did the same.

We snuggled into our sleeping bags for the night. I glanced over at Kyle who was looking at the stars. Pichu curled up beside him and fell asleep.

"Hey Kyle, you're a really good guy." I said softly.

"What do you mean?" He looked over at me.

"Well, its just, I thought when I first met you that you were mean. A bad boy. But now I see you're really a good guy."

"Hmph. I don't know what you're talking about. I am a bad guy." He grinned before rolling over the other way.

I giggled and rolled over to go to sleep as well.

**x-x-x**

The next morning we packed up and started following the beach line. Knowing eventually we would reach Fuchsia City. Kyle didn't talk a whole lot, I assumed he was still sleepy. I however, was wide-awake and taking in the beautiful sunrise. I slipped off my socks and sneakers and walked in the sand, letting the waves hit me gently. I looked up at Kyle who kept walking. "Would you believe I've never been to a beach?"

He stopped, and turned to look at me. "Are you for real?"

"Yep. But I like it. It's beautiful." I sighed.

"Yeah it is. I used to come down here all the time with my family."

"That must've been nice." I smiled.

"It was." He continued walking. "There's some people up ahead, so we must be close to the city."

I ran to catch up with him. "Eww, tourists in their sleazy swimsuits." I cringed.

Kyle laughed. "Yeah, you'll get that here. But I think it's worse in Cinnabar."

We stopped for a bite to eat at the hot dog stand that had just opened, then headed into the city. There were only two really large buildings. The gym, and the safari zone. The rest were smaller beach houses and of course the typical pokecenter and pokemart.

"Let's go to the gym first, get it over with." Kyle said, head held high.

"Uh oh, you're being cocky again." I realized why. "Oh no, you're not going to con the gym leader into giving you a badge again are you?"

"Well, with it being mostly bug type, I probably could." He stopped in front of the door. "But believe it or not I'm going to try to not use Arcanine this time. My other ones need training." He held open the door for me.

"No way." I said sarcastically before stepping inside.

There was a seemingly endless hallway we walked down. It was decorated in oriental style décor, which kept me amused for only so long. I stopped, and looked at the door that had seemed to only get farther away. "Hey is it just me or have we not made any progress on getting to that door." I got no response. "Hey! Did you hear me?" I turned, but Kyle was nowhere to be found.

**x-x-x**

Kyle stood quickly and looked up at the ceiling. What happened? Had he fallen through a trap door?

"Cha!" Pichu cried, scared from the fall into the dark pit.

"Hey it's okay." Kyle held him. "Don't know where we are but we're going to have to find a way out." He looked down at Pichu. "Can you light the way?"

Pichu stared up at him curiously. "Pi?" It released a spark that lit the darkness.

"Alright! Looks like there's a tunnel over there." He followed the tunnel using Pichu to light the way.

**x-x-x**

I checked every door along the long, never-ending hall. Some were locked, some ended up being mere paintings on the wall, and finally I reached one that would open. I opened it to see a balcony overlooking a large swampy area below. The water was shallow, but disgusting looking. It was purple and bubbling. Above, vines covered the room and I could see across the way a balcony on the opposite side.

"Duchess, try to cut down one of those vines." I released her and she fury swiped one of them down. It hung limply. I recalled her, and stared at the vine. "Never thought I'd be doing this." I backed up and made a runny go for the vine, grabbing hold and swinging across. I was tempted to yell like Tarzan, but held it in. I swung to the other side and was ready to jump off when, "Snap!" The vine broke.

**x-x-x**

Kyle worked his way through the tunnel until they came across a gross looking poisonous swamp. Kyle looked up to see an open area and light above. "Pidgeotto!" The bird came out and scooped Kyle up. They flew up and up until, "Thud!" Pidgeotto hit something hard. She shook off the pain and stared at Kyle. Kyle held up his hand and touched the surface. "Something clear, and apparently really thick. Maybe glass?" He pondered, but as he thought on this, he looked up to see something headed straight for him. "Uh oh! Pidgeotto, quick!" He pointed to a tunnel on the opposite end of the swamp. The bird dove into the cave and began flying throughout it.

**x-x-x**

I felt something crack and snap under me when I hit the hard surface. It was much darker, so I felt around to get my bearings. My hand rubbed against something sharp, puncturing my skin. "Ouch!" I held my hand up, pulling out the sharp shard. I stood, feeling the ground beneath me crack. I looked down to see a glass like surface, which had ever-growing cracks throughout it. "Oh shoot! Butterfree help!" I threw the ball up, and felt the ground beneath me give way. I was caught midair by Butterfree, and lifted gently to the balcony above. He set me down and I looked over the edge warily. "Wow, thank you. I guess I should have used you to begin with." I chuckled.

Butterfree floated around me with a concerned look. He wasn't his usual happy self. He stared at the cut on my hand that was now bleeding badly.

"Hey it's okay Butterfree." I reached for a long bandage in my purse and wrapped it around my hand. I winced from the pain, but put on a smile for Butterfree. "It could have been a lot worse. I'd be in that glass filled swamp if it wasn't for you." I stood and gave Butterfree a hug.

"Free! Free!" Butterfree happily flapped his wings.

"Really, you helped me out big time." I pet his head and recalled him back. "But now what else could there possibly be in this gym?" I reached for the doorknob and turned it slowly. Inside, was a large stadium. "Finally! Maybe now I can get a challenge around here!" I yelled out. I waited a moment before hearing a noise behind me.

The man jumped down from the ceiling behind me, startling me.

"Gah!" I jumped back.

"Is that a fact? Was my gym not a challenge enough for you?" The man stood, donning the outfit of a ninja.

I calmed myself before I spoke. "You're the leader? Yeah this is a crazy place you run here." I held my hand tenderly.

"My name is Koga. We shall fight here with three pokemon only for each of us. I need to save my other three for your friend." He smiled slyly.

"Kyle? Where is he?" I asked.

"No need to be concerned. He simply took the long way through my maze. He'll reach us in due time." Koga closed his eyes before leaping to the opposite side of the stadium. "Now then, shall we?" He threw out a Muk.

"We shall." I said, readying my pokeball. I held it in my other hand before tossing it out. "For my first I'll choose Duch…" I stopped myself. I remembered what Kyle said about his other pokemon needing training, and it reminded me that mine needed that too. "I choose Vaporeon!" The Vaporeon gracefully hopped out of her ball, flipping into arena.

I took in the surroundings. The gym was mostly tall grass, but there was an area where a swampy pond, much like the one from earlier, stood.

"Muk! Sludge Bomb!" Koga called. The muk reared back and began firing balls of gunk toward us.

"Vaporeon, quick attack!" Vaporeon dodged the bombs and tackled into Muk, but the lithe pokemon simply formed a donut hole that Vaporeon jumped through. It closed the hole on Vaporeon and engulfed her. "Oh no! Vaporeon, bite your way out!" Soon I saw Vaporeon bite through the sludge, spitting out a chunk of it. She crawled out, poisoned.

"Poison gas!" Koga cried. The muk let out a toxic mist that was unbearable.

"Por…eon!" Vaporeon coughed.

"Hmm… It looks gross, but it might help. Vaporeon! Jump in the water! You fight better there!"

Vaporeon leaped into the thick water, able to breath and avoid the gas.

"Jump in after it!" Koga called. "Use Pound!"

The muk leaped in and dove after Vaporeon. Vaporeon however, much more agile in the water, and dodged with ease.

"Okay Vaporeon! Jump out and use Aurora Beam!" I commanded, hoping that the technique I had taught her only days before, would pull through.

Vaporeon leaped out of the pond and quickly turned to let loose a beam of ice from her mouth. She spread the ice evenly over the pond, freezing Muk inside. Vaporeon fell to the ground. The poison was obviously getting to her.

"A draw then on that one?" Koga threw ninja stars into the pond to break up the ice, before recalling his frozen muk.

"A draw." I replied as I gave Vaporeon an antidote and returned her.

"Very well, Koffing, go!" Koga released a koffing onto the stage.

"Okay then, Pikachu! Go!" Pikachu hopped out, and immediately began searching for Kyle and Pichu.

"Pi!" Pikachu looked at me angrily.

"There's nothing I could do about it. But they'll be here soon." I reassured her.

Pikachu looked uneasy as she turned to face her opponent.

"Koffing Tackle!" Koga called.

"Pikachu Slam!" I yelled.

Pikachu and Koffing hit head on, but the slightly stronger Slam attack won out as it sent Koffing flying. I watched as it floated down to earth. "Pikachu! Try a Thunderbolt!" With that, Pikachu charged up and let loose a storm of electricity around Koffing. Koffing looked battered and bruised.

"Koffing, Tackle once more!" A sly smile streaked across his face.

"You're going down!" I smiled. "Pikachu! Slam it again!"

Pikahu and Koffing were headed right for each other, bracing for the hit.

"Now Koffing! Explosion!" Koga cackled.

"What? No!" I cried.

Pikachu stopped as it saw Koffing turn bright white, but not soon enough. Koffing let loose a powerful explosion that blew up right in her face.

"Chaaa!" Pikachu cried as it flew back toward me.

**x-x-x**

"Pi?" Pichu's ear's twitched as it listened carefully.

"Hmm, which way?" Kyle ignored Pichu and stared at the dilemma in front of him. Five tunnels, in five different directions.

"Pi! Chu!" Pichu dashed down the second to the right tunnel non-stop.

"Hey wait up!" Kyle chased after him. "You better not be leading me down the wrong way!"

**x-x-x**

I caught Pikachu midair, but she fainted in my arms. I put her back in her pokeball, and glanced over at Koga, who was doing the same for Koffing.

"What a coincidence. Another draw?" Koga smiled.

"Another draw." I sighed.

"Well then, I guess this decides it." Koga threw out a Venomoth.

"I guess so." I reluctantly threw out Ponyta.

Ponyta looked scared and confused. It stared back at me strangely.

"Is this its first battle? It looks like a weakling!" Koga laughed. "Venomoth. You know what to do!"

The Venomoth floated behind the pond, which was mostly melted now. It whipped up a gust of wind and blew a mist of water onto Ponyta. Ponyta fell to the ground weakened.

"Ponyta!" I ran out to him, and fell to my knees beside him. "I know you're scared, but everything will be fine. If you just listen to me, I'll make sure he doesn't hurt you okay?" I stared deep into his dark eyes before wrapping my arms around him. "You can trust me. I'll always take care of you" I held him tight against me, before suddenly realizing I was touching the flames, and it no longer hurt. Ponyta rose, ready to continue the fight. "All right! You ready to win this thing?" I stood beside him.

The baby horse whinnied confidently. I took my place back outside the ring.

"Are you ready to continue?" Koga asked bored.

"Sorry about that interruption Koga." I grinned. "Stomp that bug Ponyta!"

Ponyta leaped into the air, pouncing on the venomoth. He knocked it down with his hoofs and stomped it into the ground.

"Now! Before it can react, Fire Spin!" I cried. Ponyta ran in a circle around the venomoth. His tail rubbed against the tall grass catching them ablaze with blue flames. "See Ponyta, I told you I'd keep you safe." I whispered.

Venomoth rose and stared uneasily at the flames that surrounded it.

"Fly out of it!" Koga called. Venomoth stared at him before it caught on. It began carefully navigating its way out of the ring of fire.

"Ponyta, jump and use Ember!" I called, hoping I'd reacted quick enough.

Ponyta leaped high into the air and as he passed over Venomoth, opened his mouth wide to release a flame that sealed the bug inside the fire, badly burning it. Ponyta leaped to the other side.

Koga's face became jagged. He grit his teeth. "Venomoth! Finish this with Psywave!"

The Venomoth rose out of the flames and slowly floated over Ponyta. It glowed bright purple and shook erratically. The purple aura dissipated as it fell to the ground in a heap. Koga was forced to return it.

"We won!" I ran to Ponyta and hugged him once more. Koga walked over to us.

"Well done, you're officially a ninja student now." He handed me a certificate, but I stared at him blankly.

"Ninja student?" I frowned. "I came for a gym badge."

"What?" Koga pulled back the certificate. "Why didn't you say so? I wouldn't have put you and your friend through the preliminary obstacle course had I known that."

"You mean you put us through that crap for nothing?" I heard a thud, and saw some dirt falling from above.

"You might want to move." Koga leaped back. I ran a little further out and watched as the ceiling gave way, large paws fell through as Arcanine toppled to the ground. He hit the floor putting out whatever flames were left in the grass. Kyle fell on top of him landing on his soft fur. Pichu followed suit landing on Kyle's back.

"Pi?" Pichu looked happily around the room.

"Kyle!" I laughed. "Nice of you to drop in!"

Kyle looked up dazed. "Shonna? You're already here?"

"Yes, she is. And she's already won her badge." Koga said as he handed me a badge. I jumped up and down happily. "It was a close battle, but she won."

"Did she…" Kyle hopped off of Arcanine. "Well, I guess I'll have to do the same."

"The arena's a mess, but you're welcome to try." Koga grinned as he back flipped to his side of the stadium. I walked over to the bench by the doorway in the back. It had a large EXIT sign above it. I guess even Koga has to have emergency exits to code.

"If you're ready, we'll use three pokemon each. I can't switch out." Koga threw out his first choice, a Venonat.

"Okay then. I'll pick…" Before Kyle could get out the words, Pichu ran to the center of the stage.

"Pi!" Pichu turned to Kyle happily.

"Oh no you don't. Get back here Pichu."

"Pi!" Pichu held up his arms confidently.

"You think you can do it?" Kyle looked skeptical. "I know I'm going to regret this, but go on Pichu."

Pichu danced happily. It began running around the room, invisible in the tall grass.

"This might actually work." Kyle smiled.

"Watch its eyes Kyle!" I yelled, watching the Venonat closely.

He turned and looked at the Venonat. Its radar-like eyes were locked onto Pichu the whole time.

"Pichu! That won't work! It sees you! Try Thundershock!" Kyle called.

Pichu stopped to think. It looked like it couldn't remember what to do. Kyle hung his head, frustrated.

"Confusion Venonat." Koga said calmly.

The venonat was surrounded in violet as it used its power to lift Pichu into the air. The rodent looked surprised at first then squealed in delight as he floated above. Then cried as he was slammed down to the ground, knocked out.

"Jeez Pichu." Kyle picked up the pokemon.

Koga laughed hysterically. "Well this is going to be easy."

"I hate to break it to you, but it won't be as easy now." Kyle readied his next pokemon. "Go Eevee!" The Eevee hopped out of his ball and curled his fluffy tail around himself. "Now, quick attack!" Eevee darted through the grass and tried striking Venonat. The gnat used its keen eyes to sense Eevee though, and dodged each time. "Eevee Sand Attack!"

Eevee used the Quick Attack's speed to make a more powerful Sand Attack. Dirt flew into Venonat's eyes and it rubbed them feverishly. Eevee tackled the venonat, rolling it across the ring.

"Don't use your eyes! Feel out your opponent and use Confusion." Koga yelled.

Venonat relaxed and lifted Eevee up with the attack. Unfortunately without its eyes, it was unable to see that Eevee was only floating a few inches above it.

"Eevee! Bite it!" Kyle cried. With that, Eevee squirmed over to Venonat and bit down hard on its head. The venonat fainted.

"I suppose I'll have to work on my pokemon's sensing abilities." Koga said as he recalled Venonat. "Go Grimer!"

The grimer flopped into the stage. It had a goofy grin on its face. "Grimerrrrr!"

Koga simply shook his head looking ashamed. "It's a new one, but I suppose we have to start somewhere.

Kyle grinned. Maybe Koga was having the same problems he had with Pichu with this Grimer. There was only one way to find out. "Okay Eevee, give it your best sand attack!"

The eevee turned and dug as fast as his claws could, throwing dirt all over the grimer. Grimer simply stood there stupefied. Soon it was covered in a shell of hard dirt.

"What? What's he doing?" Koga asked bewildered.

"I just turned a liquid, into a solid." Kyle smiled. "Eevee! Tackle!"

I watched in amazement as the Eevee struck the grimer hard, knocking it into a wall breaking its shell. The grimer slid down the wall until it rested on the ground knocked out. _When I tried that with Vaporeon, Muk simply maneuvered around it. Kyle had made it to where the grimer couldn't. Ingenious._

Koga sulked. "I used most of my better pokemon on her, but I do still have this one." He threw out a weezing onto the field.

"Okay then, Eevee! Bite the smaller head!" Kyle called.

The Eevee leaped up and grabbed the small orb on Weezing. He held on and began slamming the pokemon around on the ground.

"Weezing! Poison Gas!" Koga grinned.

The weezing released hot gas all around, and in Eevee's mouth. Eevee let go, and stumbled around, weak from fighting three pokemon. Kyle quickly recalled it.

"A Weezing." Kyle said to himself. "I know I said I wouldn't, but maybe I should use Arcanine. I want to make sure I get the badge after all." He paused. "Go Beedrill!"

The large bee took center stage as it flew in the arena.

I felt myself pale as I watched the bee hold up his stingers. I knew I wasn't going to be able to watch this one. "Umm K-Kyle! I'll wait outside okay!" I bolted out the door next to me.

"What's up with her?" Koga stared curiously.

"She's scared of Beedrill." Kyle replied. "Beedrill! Use Pin Missile!" Beedrill clashed his stingers into Weezing's hard skin. It seemed not to hurt it much, until one of the attacks hit in one of Weezing's holes. The Weezing winced. "Beedrill, aim just for the holes!" Beedrill began rapidly attacking the holes on Weezing.

"Smokescreen Weezing!" Koga yelled. Black smoke rose out of the Weezing's holes, startling Beedrill, but not hurting it.

"Clear it with Fury Attack!"

Beedrill began thrusting his stingers out rapidly. The motion slowly lifted the smoke, revealing Weezing. Beedrill tackled into it, smashing it against the same wall grimer had been defeated on. The weezing fainted on impact.

"Hmph. You won. I was just tired from the other battle though." Koga made excuses as he handed Kyle the badge.

"Well I'd be willing to do a rematch if that's how you feel about it." Kyle glared.

"No, that's all right." Koga placed the badge in his hand. "Just go. You all have made a mess of my gym." He leaped into the air and disappeared into the tunnel above.

**x-x-x**

Kyle walked out with his head hung. I walked over to him cautiously. "So, how'd it go?" I asked sadly.

"Well, it looks like I need more training." He lifted his head with a smile. "For the Saffron Gym, cause I beat this one!" He held out his badge.

"Wow! Great job!" I grabbed his hands and began jumping happily. I quickly let go and stopped, knowing how silly I must've looked. I turned red in embarrassment.

Kyle laughed. "Hey, before we head back to Saffron, let's check out the safari zone! I heard there's a lot of cool pokemon to catch there!"

"Oh okay!" I perked up. "That sounds like fun!"

"Yeah! I'll race you!" Kyle grinned.

"You're on!" We took off running, Kyle immediately had the lead.

"Haha, looks like I'm gonna…" Kyle glared as I raced by on Ponyta. "Hey! You cheated."

"Yep I did." I stopped in front of the Safari Zone gate.

"Oh well, I'm glad you and Ponyta are getting along now." He smiled as he caught up with us.

"Me too." I stroked Ponyta's head before returning him. We walked inside the gate and were greeted by two teenage boys at a desk nearby.

"Two? That'll be a uh… what was it?" The boy whispered to his friend.

"A thousand." The other boy said before walking into the back room.

"A thousand please." We handed him the money and he looked around nervously for his friend. "Umm…here's 50 safari balls. Enjoy!" We took the safari balls and walked into the park.

"New guy huh?" I looked up at Kyle.

"Yeah I guess so. He was supposed to give us sixty safari balls, and he was supposed to take our pokemon, so we couldn't use them to battle with."

"Oops." I laughed. "Oh well, we won't do it, right?"

"Nah, I don't need Officer Jenny coming down here after me for that too." Kyle smiled.

"Well then, where to first?" I asked.

"Over there, to that pond." Kyle pointed. "I want to do some fishing."

We walked over to the pond and Kyle pulled out a top of the line fishing rod. He stuck some pricey looking tackle to it and tossed it into the water. I sat beside him.

"Aren't you going to fish?" Kyle asked. "You have a rod right?"

"Well, yes." I looked away embarrassed, before pulling out my wooden rod. The line was affixed to a wooden dowel. It had a very ordinary pokeball bobber for bait.

We sat there for hours. Kyle caught several goldeen, seaking, and even hooked the occasional gyarados, but he threw them all back in, frustrated. I didn't see why he was mad, he was catching a lot more than I was.

"I don't get it Kyle, you caught all those great pokemon, and all I'm catching is Magikarp." I laughed.

Kyle looked annoyed. "You know it's only because of that cruddy rod you have there. Where'd you get that thing anyway?"

"I…" I stood, feeling a bit heartbroken. "I made it." I turned, not wanting to hear his sympathy. "I'm gonna go see what's over there." I took off for a nearby field.

"Shonna! Wait! I …" Kyle watched as I ran off. "I didn't know." He sighed. "Shoot, I'm not having any luck." He pulled back his rod and chased after me.

I stopped dead in my tracks. I watched unable to move as they swarmed around me. Buzzes filled my ears. I could barely hear Kyle's voice behind me. As one of the Beedrill flew past me, I blacked out and slowly felt myself falling.

"Shonna!" Kyle cried as he caught me. "She fainted." He laid me down on the grass and watched the Beedrill swarm. "These beedrill are acting strange."

Pichu hid in his backpack scared.

Kyle watched as he saw the blimp approach from above. It had the Rocket logo painted on it. He looked over to see a man dressed in black running out of the bushes with an odd device.

"Stage one complete," He radioed over. "The Beedrill are confused by the high frequency machine and ready to capture. Initiate phase two and meet me at the rendezvous."

"Oh no you don't!" Kyle yelled. "I don't know what you're doing, but its probably not anything good. Beedrill! Attack that machine!"

Kyle's beedrill hopped out and swung at the machine in the man's hand. It broke into pieces. The swarm of beedrill shook off and looked around at each other. They weren't quick enough to avoid the giant bug net that enveloped them.

"Hmph," the rocket smirked. "I don't know who you are kid, but you're too late." He hopped onto a rope ladder hanging from the blimp above. Several beedrill in the net beside him tried to take a swipe at him, but the reinforced net prevented it.

"Looks like that net's made to keep the beedrill in well." Kyle looked over at his beedrill, who had avoided the capture. "But I wonder if their blimp is built just as sturdy." Beedrill nodded before taking off into the air. It flew up to the blimp and poked its stinger into the side, puncturing it. The blimp swirled around before plummeting to the ground nearby. The beedrill were freed as the netting came loose in the impact, and they immediately turned to chase after the Rockets, leading them right out of the park.

They eventually came back, and buzzed happily around Kyle's Beedrill. His Beedrill was much larger than them, but looked very happy for the gratitude. "Hey! Great job Beedrill!" Kyle called. "You ready to go now?" Beedrill didn't seem to hear him and instead was playfully flying with the other beedrill. Kyle walked over to him. "Beedrill? You coming?"

Beedrill stopped and looked at the others sadly.

"Okay, I get it. You want to stay here and protect the other beedrill don't you?"

Beedrill buzzed happily.

"That's fine. They need you." Kyle heard the sound of a police siren in the distance. "Well, guess there's no time for long winded goodbyes." He pat Beedrill on the head. "You know how it is. But good luck, you take good care of your friends."

Kyle picked me up and bolted out of the clearing, running as far away from those sirens as he could. He turned to see Beedrill and his new friends flying happily into the forest. There was a small shack just ahead. He walked into the abandoned shed and set me down softly.

"Erm…" I groaned. "What? Where am I?" I sat up, awakened by the sirens outside.

"You fainted. And missed a lot actually. But anyway, I'm sorry about earlier." Kyle whispered. "I was just frustrated, and didn't mean to call your rod cruddy."

"Oh, that's alright." I peeked out the dusty window. "Is Officer Jenny after you again?"

"No I think this time they're after some poachers. They're late though. I already took care of them." He looked down sadly. "Beedrill left."

"What why?" I looked over at him, not sure whether to be sad or joyous.

"It's what he wanted. He met up with some other beedrill."

"Well that's not too bad then." I smiled. "At least he's happy." I looked out the window again. "They're taking the blimp stuff with them. Looks like they're leaving."

"Good. I still need to catch a Dratini." Kyle pulled out his rod.

"Is that what you're trying to catch?"

"Yeah, I know there's one around here somewhere." He attached a new tackle to his rod. "Hey you can borrow mine if you want."

"That's okay. I'm not much on fishing honestly. That's why I didn't bother buying a better one." I smiled.

"If you say so." Kyle creaked open the door. "Let's try to sneak around and find just the right pond.

And so that's what we did. We went around to every pond in the park. Knowing our time limit would run out soon, we finally settled on one and sat there to fish. Kyle was tempted to throw out Gyarados to go fish out the thing, but I convinced him not to. He finally hooked a dratini, and brought it up to the surface. The dratini curled up and smacked the first safari ball back at Kyle. In fact, it did that to the next twenty. As if it were playing a game. But at least it didn't flee. Kyle continued lobbing safari balls at it until the twenty-third finally hit the Dratini head on. It shook and wobbled three times before fastening closed. I congratulated him, but before we could look around anymore, the intercom system came blaring out, demanding we return to the gate.

Once we got back, the other boy from the back room was taking care of the returns. We gave him our remaining safari balls, and he looked at us curiously.

"Now which pokemon were yours?" He turned to search the pokeball filled trays labeled with trainer's names. We simply walked out, leaving him dumbfounded.

"That was so fun. I know I really didn't get anything out of it, but it still was." I smiled.

"It was, wasn't it?" Kyle smiled back. "Now we just need to head up to Saffron, beat the gym leader and come back here."

We walked into the pokecenter and healed our pokemon. Kyle turned to walk back out.

I walked out following him. "It's getting late." I stared at the sun hanging low in the sky. "Don't you think we should rest up tonight and head out tomorrow?"

"Kyle looked up at the sun setting. "Nah. We can at least make it to Lavender town."

I was hesitant, but followed. "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." He seemed confident as we approached some very tall hedges.

"What's this?" I read the sign. "A hedge maze! And it's the only way through. We really don't have time for this." I complained.

"Don't be so sure." Kyle released Arcanine. The powerful pooch kneeled down as we hopped on its back. Once it stood, we were able to see far past the maze, and Arcanine howled before hopping over the hedge hurdles. We landed on the opposite side, where a series of docks wrapped around the land. Arcanine warily crossed the tiny wooden docks, but then backed up, afraid to fall in the water.

We hopped down. "It's alright Arcanine. We'll take it from here." Kyle returned him to the ball around his neck. I walked down the dockyard and saw it stretch for miles. The sky was turning just as dark as the water. "You're not complaining right? A nice moonlight walk on the water?" Kyle teased, knowing that would draw me in.

It was very romantic in a way. I walked behind Kyle, trying to hide the flush on my cheeks. I glanced up at him, noting how the moonlight hardened his face, making him look very handsome. I looked away, trying to focus on something else. But with no annoying fishermen out to battle us, or even any pokemon flopping around, my mind kept wandering back to that. I giggled, not watching my step as I walked right into Kyle.

"Oof!" I stumbled. "Why'd you stop?" I looked up to see a familiar large blob taking up our path on the docks. "Oh no. Not another Snorlax! Does this mean we have to turn back again?"

"Not at all." Kyle smiled as he handed me the flute. "I'll fight this one."

"Oh, okay." I struggled to remember the notes Kyle taught me, but I managed to wing my way through the song.

"Snor?" The Snorlax rose up, almost slipping on the wet docks. I took Pichu to keep him from getting in the way.

Kyle pulled out the pokeball he wanted and threw it to the ground. Eevee friskily chased its tail as it hopped out. I wondered how Kyle was going to make something so little and cute beat that terrible snorlax.

"Ready Eevee? Use Bite!" Kyle commanded.

The Eevee latched onto Snorlax's foot. Biting down and not letting go. The Snorlax shook its foot wildly and slipped on the wet wood beneath it. It plunged into the water below, with Eevee still attached.

"Eevee!" Kyle cried as he looked over the edge. The snorlax swam away angrily as it headed into the forest nearby. Eevee popped up in the water in front of Kyle, soaking wet. "Aww, Eevee." He picked the drenched furball up and set it down beside him as he pulled out his towel and began drying it.

Sparks flew from Pichu's cheeks as it watched jealously. I turned and walked up the docks a while, distracting it.

Eevee sat beside Kyle happily flicking his fluffy tail around. Kyle had him mostly dry.

"You sure aren't scared of anything are you?" Kyle noted as he rubbed the towel down Eevee's back. "You're going to make a great pokemon." He paused. "But what? I don't know which of the evolutions I'd like you to be. Besides. I want you to be happy." He put the towel away and Eevee looked at him curiously as it turned to look up at the moon. "I wish I knew, what you would choose." Kyle smiled sadly.

Just then, Eevee flashed bright white. He rose to be much taller, and his fur turned dark black. Yellow circular patches flashed on his legs and head. He playfully nudged Kyle, and Kyle watched stunned.

"Breon!" The umbreon yapped.

"I guess you did choose." Kyle smiled as he pet his new umbreon.

"Hey is it safe?" I yelled as I approached them. Pichu fidgeted in my arms.

"Yeah, hang on." Kyle returned the umbreon and stood to meet us. "I got an umbreon." He grinned.

"You're kidding!" I let Pichu go and he leaped to Kyle's shoulder. "That's cool."

"I know. Thanks for watching Pichu for me. I know it couldn't have been easy."

"Eh, well you know." I shivered from the cold. "Just a few shocks here and there. Nothing too bad."

"You cold?" Kyle wrapped his jacket around me. "Sorry I drug you out here so late. But it was worth it, don't you think?" He smiled before turning to walk toward Lavender Town.

I stood there blushing as I pulled his jacket around me closer. He was certainly a charmer, that one. I followed behind him as we walked into town.

"Let's check the pokecenter." He said. "I'm sure you're tired of sleeping bags."

"Well, yeah kinda." I chuckled. We walked in the warm pokecenter. "Excuse me," I asked the Nurse Joy. "Are there any beds available?"

The nurse turned to me. "No I'm sorry. There was a rush of trainers that came through rock tunnel recently and they've taken them all. They're even sleeping on the benches."

I turned to look at them and sighed. "That's okay. Guess it's sleeping bags for us after all." I looked up at Kyle who gave me a look of pity. We walked out just in time for the rain to start. "We have no luck today huh?"

"Well hello there!" A familiar voice rang out. We turned to see Mr. Fuji and a Cubone standing there. "You young'uns need a place to stay tonight? You're welcome to my place."

"Boy do we ever!" I said happily. We followed him to his house and sat down at the table.

"So Mr. Fuji," Kyle spoke up. "Did you ever figure out what was going on in the tower?"

"Yes, I did. Apparently the spirit of a marowak was causing trouble because of some incident that had occurred up there. It had lost all its children except this one." Mr. Fuji rubbed the cubone's head. "It was the only one to survive, but her spirit was still there trying to take care of it. It took a lot of convincing. But I finally got her to rest and let me take care of it."

"That's good. We were worried about you." I sipped on some water Mr. Fuji gave me.

"Yes, but do tell me. Have you got to use that pokeflute yet?" Mr. Fuji sat to enjoy his tea.

"Actually yes." Kyle replied. "We saw a snorlax outside of Celadon City and here at Lavender Town."

"Ah yes." Mr. Fuji looked up as if he were thinking. "I used to go and wake up that one near here all the time when I was younger, if only for the sport of it." He laughed. "Well, are you all headed out tomorrow?"

"Yes. We need to get the gym badge in Saffron City." I said as I began nodding off.

Mr. Fuji laughed. "Well then, you better get on to bed. I'll show you to your rooms."

I'm pretty sure I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.


	17. Saffron Spectacles and Slot Speculations

**x-x-x**

Episode 17: Saffron Spectacles and Slot Speculations!

"Shonna, wake up…" I heard a voice say. I opened my eyes to see Kyle staring down at me. He had his hand gently rubbing my face.

"Umm… I…" I blushed as I scooted up in the bed. "Is it time to go already?"

"Fraid so." He pushed his fingers into my hair and pulled my head over to him, gently kissing my forehead. "But if you want we could stay like this for a while longer."

I sat there speechless, my heart racing. "Wh-What's gotten into you Kyle?"

"Nothing. I just realized last night how much I love being around you." He smiled. "I love how much fun we have, traveling with you, even just saying your name." He leaned in close to me. "Shonna…"

"Y-yes?" My words stumbled weakly.

"Shonna… Shonna!"

Suddenly a sharp shaking awakened me. Kyle quit shaking my shoulder as I looked up at him. I noticed Pichu sitting on my pillow, licking my forehead.

"Finally." Kyle raised up. "It's time to get going, so you better wake up." He took Pichu and walked out.

**x-x-x**

We fought a few trainers along the way, but otherwise made a short trip to Saffron. I kept quiet most of the way, still jostled by my peculiar dream.

"Is something wrong with you?" Kyle looked concerned. "You haven't spoken to me all day."

"Y-yeah." I stuttered. "It's nothing, really."

"Well if it's okay with you. I want to stop in the game corner at Celadon first. There's some really neat TM prizes if you do well."

"That's fine." I replied. We walked through the gate to Celadon. I had my head hanging, and didn't see the large man that ran right into me. "Ack!" I fell to the floor.

"I can't take it anymore!" The man yelled out as he stood and began digging through his pockets. "I've already lost my house, and my family, all on those stupid slots!" He threw down a coin case filled with coins. "Here! Take it! Take all of it!" The man ran out screaming.

"Well," Kyle helped me up and picked up the case. "Guess this will give us a start."

**x-x-x**

We walked into the game corner and were met by a flurry of people running around to different neon colored slot machines. Kyle took a seat at one of the machines and pushed a coin through the slot.

"Are you sure you want to do this Kyle?" I looked around uneasy. "I don't want you to get addicted like that one guy."

"Please." Kyle pulled down the crank. "Who are you trying to be? My wife or something?"

I blushed. "No!" I yelled back as I took a seat beside him.

I watched as the lights flashed and the slots pulled to a stop. All sevens.

"Is that good?" I asked.

"Yes!" Kyle laughed as he scooped up a pile of coins from the tray. "That's good." He handed me a coin. "Here, you try."

I took it and stuck it in the machine. I got a pikachu head, a R, and a seven. Nothing. Kyle however was reeling in the coins and now had a small crowd around him.

**x-x-x**

"Hey Jenny!" The man phoned in. "Listen, I got this kid here who's getting seven's everytime. He's gotta be cheating! I won't have that in my establishment! But you gotta hurry and get down here! He's gonna cash in soon!"

**x-x-x**

We walked over to the adjacent building with Kyle's armful of coins and set them on the counter.

"I want one of each of your TMs" Kyle said coolly. The woman stared at him mouth agape. "Do you want any Shonna?" Kyle asked me.

"Oh! Um, sure. I'll take a Flamethrower. For Ponyta." I smiled.

We packed up the TMs and turned to walk back out. Before we could get to the door, it slammed open and Jenny ran in.

"I got a complaint about someone cheating the slots and… You?" Jenny stood shocked at first, then reached for her handcuffs. "Well well, just another thing to add to your rap sheet Mr. Gray." She approached us slowly.

"What do we do now Kyle?" I looked around the small building. No windows, only a door, which was currently blocked. Jenny came up behind us and cuffed us. She also grabbed Pichu and stuffed him in a cage. Pichu wailed as she carried him away from Kyle.

"Jimmy. Detain them and bring them to the station. I'll be waiting."

A nerdy looking officer came up to us. He looked kind of scared as he took our bags. He reached up to grab Arcanine's pokeball.

"Hey!" Kyle shouted.

"Oh goodness!" The man shook in fear.

"It's just a necklace pipsqueak. Leave it alone." Kyle said angrily.

"Oh uh uh okay!" The officer shivered as he led us to the cop car. We drove silently to the command post in Saffron. Once we arrived at the station, we were uncuffed and placed in a cell.

We sat quietly as Jenny walked in.

"Kyle, Kyle. We called your mother. She's on her way to pick you up now. We'll give you back your pokemon as soon as she gets here." She paused and looked at me. "And I don't know who you are, but you'll be released whenever he is."

"Why can't I be released now? I didn't do anything." I questioned.

"Give me a break." Jenny turned to walk away. "I don't want you two planning some kind of dreamy escape." She walked off further into the station.

Kyle looked over at me. "You ready?"

"Whenever you are." I winked.

Kyle pulled the pokeball off his necklace and threw it out into the hall. Arcanine pawed at the bars.

"Alright Arcanine. You're great at rescues. So help us get out of here. But you gotta be careful. Be kinda… stealthy." Kyle whispered.

The Arcanine nodded before sneaking off down the hall.

**x-x-x**

Arcanine snuck down the hallway, looking for the easiest way out. It would have been simple enough for him to bite open the bars and bust them out. But Kyle said stealthy. He lowered his body as he crawled around the station. He walked out the back to see a ton of growlithe and arcanine. They were training outside with their owners. It looked like most of the officers were outside. Maybe that'd be a potential getaway. He crawled back through the door to the opposite end of the station.

There was a large woman with a beehive hairstyle making coffee in the back, and there just ahead, were the keys. Hanging in a box in front of him. He snuck up to the box. Just a little further. He slowly lifted his teeth to the keys. They fell into his mouth with a clang, and the woman turned to see him.

"Oh my!" The woman said loudly. "If it isn't one of our fine Arcanine!" She waddled up to him stroking his thick fur. "You all just do such a fine job out there in the field. Makes me wish I wasn't just the coffee lady!" She giggled.

Arcanine wagged his tail and put on a fake smile, making sure not to expose the keys.

"Well, then big guy," She stroked his fur. "You better get back to training, and I better get back to making coffee!" She lifted a cup and carried it to a door down the hall labeled, "Jenny's office".

Arcanine knew this was his chance. He turned to walk back to the cells when he noticed their bags sitting under a desk. Pichu was stuck in a small cage as well, sobbing. Arcanine kneeled down to his level.

"Arf! Arf!" Arcanine barked. "Hey! Quit crying. I'm going to get us out of here."

"Pi! Chu!" Pichu cried. "But, I hate being cooped up in this cage! I'm scared! I want Kyle!"

"I know you do." Arcanine spat the keys into Pichu's cage. "Hold on to those tight, and I'll be able to get you out of there."

"Pi? Really?" Pichu grabbed ahold of the keys.

"Yep, just hang on tight to those." Arcanine grabbed the cage and the bags, and tossed them onto his back as he walked back to the holding cells.

**x-x-x**

"Arcanine!" Kyle called. "Did you find a way out?"

"Arf!" Arcanine picked up the cage and our bags and slid them between the bars.

"Look Kyle!" I pulled the keys from Pichu's hands and unlocked his cage. Pichu ran immediately to Kyle crying. "Looks like we got keys." I walked over and unlocked the door.

"Good boy Arcanine. Now did you find a good place for us to make our getaway?" Kyle pet Arcanine's head.

"Arf!" Arcanine tossed us on his back and we hid in his thick fur. He casually walked out the exit door. I peeked up to see the training grounds. Arcanine walked calmly past the others before stopping briefly. The blue hair made me duck back into his fur. I looked over and saw Kyle holding Pichu's mouth closed.

"Hmm." Jenny sipped on her coffee. "I haven't seen you around here. You look familiar though." She tapped her foot thinking. "You're a big Arcanine. Maybe Jimmy's growlithe finally evolved. Don't know how though. He never spent time with it." She walked past pondering this. She continued down the courtyard until she walked into the station. She was greeted by a woman with frizzy blond hair and glasses.

"Hello, I'm Mrs. Gray. I'm here to pick up my son."

"Oh yes." Jenny walked up the hall as she spoke. "He's just up ahead. The troublemaker. We put him in this cell over he…" She stopped, and dropped her coffee to the ground. The cell door stood wide open. "That Arcanine… I know that Arcanine!" She screamed. "It was his!" She bolted out the door back to the courtyard, but the large Arcanine was no where to be found.

**x-x-x**

"That was really close." I said as I hopped off Arcanine.

"Too close." Kyle hugged Arcanine tight. "But you saved us, didn't you boy?"

The Arcanine happily licked his master's face.

"That's true," I pet him. "We wouldn't be here without him."

"Arf!" Arcanine barked at us happily before returning to the ball around Kyle's neck.

"Now," Kyle sighed. "Let's get that badge and get outta here."

**x-x-x**

We walked in the gym, and I developed a sudden headache. The room around me began spinning wildly.

"It is doing that for you too?" Kyle said, looking like he was in the same pain.

"Yeah, what's going on?" I stumbled.

"This is psychic gym, so maybe the leader or her pokemon is causing this." Kyle held onto the wall for support. "Somehow we've got to get back there."

We held to the walls and wandered down the hall. When we finally reached the end, I almost puked opening the door. "We're here to challenge the…" I fell to the floor. The powerful psychic waves intensified in the gym. Kyle looked across the gym and in the midst of the swirls and blurs, the gym leader sat, meditating.

"Please stop!" Kyle yelled. "We want to challenge you!"

Her eye's snapped open and the room returned to its normal state. The leader stared at us with evil eyes. I stood to meet her gaze.

"No!" The leader shouted. "I can not be bothered with this. I will not fight both of you."

"What?" Kyle shouted back. "You have to! You're the gym leader."

"I do not have the time to fight both of you. Be gone!" The woman screamed.

We stood speechless. I looked over to the nameplate on the sign nearby. It read "Saffron City Gym Leader: Sabrina"

"Sabrina!" I yelled. "You may not have time for two battles, but what if you double battled us?" I smiled as I saw Kyle look at me curiously. "It'll get us out quicker, and I gotta tell ya, we're not going anywhere until we get our badges." I stood firm, and stared at Sabrina head on, showing her I was not intimidated.

Sabrina simply stood there staring for a long time. "Fine. But after the battle, you must leave and let me meditate."

Kyle whispered to me. "Shonna, are you sure this is a good idea?"

"Kyle, I don't think she would have battled us any other way." I pulled out a pokeball. "I don't like it either, but it's the only way. Don't worry though. We can take her." I said confidently.

"Okay then." Kyle said reluctantly. He pulled out his pokeball as well.

Sabrina closed her eyes as two pokeballs floated in front of her. "I will only use these two pokemon. You may only use the pokemon you choose." The pokeballs floated to the stage revealing an Alakazam and a Mr. Mime.

"You ready Shonna?" Kyle looked over at me. I nodded before throwing out Vaporeon. Kyle threw out Umbreon.

The Alakazam attacked relentlessly, teleporting and striking Umbreon with a quick psybeam.

"How?" I asked surprised. "She's not commanding them."

"Yes she is." Kyle looked over at me. "She's using her mind. Telekinesis. We'll have to be careful."

"Right." I thought for a moment. "Vaporeon! Water Pulse!"

Water poured out of Vaporeon's mouth. It streamed toward Alakazam and Mr. Mime. The pair lifted their hands up and used their Confusion attacks to turn the water back on us. It splashed down on Umbreon and Vaporeon.

"Shonna! I told you, you have to be careful!" Kyle yelled.

"Hey lay off! I thought it'd work." I yelled back.

"Ugh. This is no time for us to fight." Kyle put his hand to his head. "Listen, these guys have seen a lot of battles, and they can see the future. You're going to have to think of attacks that will surprise them."

"You haven't even made an attack Kyle!" I snapped. "Why don't you show me what you mean?"

"Gladly." Kyle turned to the battle. "Umbreon Shadow Ball, and Bite!"

Umbreon let loose a large ball of dark energy. He ran behind the ball swiftly. put up a screen that reflected the ball. Umbreon leaped over the ball biting hard onto Mr. Mime's arm.

"Wow," I watched carefully. "That was unexpected."

"That's what you have to do." Kyle winked.

"I think I get it." I smiled. "Vaporeon, Water Pulse the air, then Aurora Beam!"

Vaporeon bounced up and shot strings of water into the air. It shot beams that quickly froze the water into icicles that fell onto the pair of psychic types. They held up their arms in defense, but it obviously hurt.

"That's the way!" Kyle cheered. "We just have to catch them off guard."

The Alakazam and Mr. Mime closed their eyes and released a pair of psybeams to us. It was almost as if time stopped. I didn't even have time to think about it before the words spilled out.

"Vaporeon! Freeze a surf attack!" I called. Kyle looked over at me, wondering what I was doing. Vaporeon brought out a wave of water to crash into the psychic types, they in turn, began turning it back on us, but as it stood in a vertical line above us, Vaporeon froze it with Aurora Beam. The still shooting psybeams hit the sheet of ice and bounced off it.

I looked back at Kyle. "They have light screens, we have ice."

Kyle smiled. "Umbreon! Shoot Shadow Balls!"

Umbreon opened his mouth and released several balls of dark energy. They broke through the ice making large holes in it. Several of the balls hit Sabrina's pokemon head on. The Pokemon pulled themselves together and stared blankly at the holes in the ice, unsure of which one they should attack at.

"Umbreon!" Kyle called.

"Vaporeon!" I cried.

"Bite!" We yelled in unison.

Umbreon and Vaporeon leaped through the holes and bit hard into the pokemon on the other side. The surprised Alakazam and fell to the ground, knocked out. Pokeballs floated above them and the beams of light picked the pokemon up and put them back in the balls. They floated back to Sabrina's hands. Two badges from behind her floated to us and rested in our hands. We looked up at Sabrina.

"You have won, and done quite well. I was unable to tell what your attacks meant, and your quick judgments left me little time to remedy it. Now please leave." Sabrina walked into another room quietly.

"We won!" I placed the badge on my bag and saw Kyle do the same on the inside of his jacket.

"Yeah!" Kyle smiled happily. "We make a good team."

I nudged him playfully. "Did you ever have a doubt?"

"Well actually…" Kyle ran out of the room.

"Hey wait." I paused before chasing after him. "You did, didn't you?"


	18. The Seaside SplitUp!

**Warning: Some sexual themes in this one, but nothing above T rating.**

**x-x-x**

Episode 18: The Seaside Split-Up!

"Kyle!" I held onto his waist for dear life. "Slow down!"

"Pi!" Even Pichu looked sick as it clung to Kyle's jacket.

"I can't slow down!" Kyle shouted. "I'm afraid those bikers are going to come after us. Or Jenny! You know she has an APB out for my bike right?"

We zoomed down cycling road on Kyle's motorcycle so fast, I couldn't see anything as we passed by. It was like one of those movies where everything is just streaks and blurs.

"Who cares?" I said, feeling nauseous. "We can get away from Jenny, and the biker's were no big deal."

"Are you saying that them hitting on you was no big deal?" He kept his eyes on the road.

"I didn't like it either you know!" I sighed, knowing he wasn't going to slow down. "Just as long as you don't go throwing anymore punches I think we'll be okay."

"I had to punch him!" Kyle glanced at me angrily. "He was going to take you away from me!" He looked surprised by what he said and turned back to the road.

"Excuse me?" I stared at him. "Look I'm glad you did, I know you were just trying to protect me."

Kyle didn't say anything and just continued weaving around the upcoming bikes.

"Oh now you're not talking anymore. Nice." I crossed my arms, but feeling like I was going to fall off, I reluctantly put them back around his waist.

"I need to concentrate on the road. What's done is done, so quit distracting me." Kyle looked at me coldly. The rest of the trip was silent.

We arrived in Fuchsia City with no chases or any other problems. Kyle pulled to a stop on the beach and packed up his bike. We walked down to the water's edge and Kyle popped out Gyarados.

"Kyle, I'm sorry about earlier okay?" I hung my head sadly.

"Its okay. I'm sorry for driving so fast. I just didn't want to get caught again, you know?" I nodded in agreement. "Well then, get on." Kyle walked up Gyarados's back.

I stepped up onto the slippery serpent, but tripped on the wet scales. Kyle caught me and pulled me up beside him. "You're kinda clumsy aren't cha?" He laughed.

I sat beside him still somewhat annoyed.

Gyarados swam high up out of the water, keeping us from getting very wet. Pretty much every trainer along the way just moved out of the way seeing the giant gyarados. They would look down at their pitiful staryu or golden, and take off in the other direction. The few that did have the guts to take us on were quickly beaten. We sailed right along on the path to Cinnabar. That is, until the path forked.

"There's some rocks up ahead that fork the path." I pointed.

"Yeah, but we're going left." Kyle stated.

I pulled out my Kanto map and studied it. "But the map says we should go right."

"I don't care what you say, its left to get to Cinnabar."

"But the map says…"

"I've lived in this region all my life! You think I don't know my way around it by now?" Kyle snapped.

"Fine!" I threw Vaporeon into the water and slid off Gyarados's back to hop onto Vaporeon's. The water was cold, and Vaporeon's short stature made sure that my legs were hanging into it. But I didn't care. The last thing I needed to show Kyle was that I needed him. _I'm independent!_

"You go your way, and I'll go mine!" I shouted as I steered Vaporeon off to the right. Once we were a fair enough distance away I looked down at Vaporeon. "Vaporeon, I really hope I'm right." We continued sailing out into the sea for hours.

I was nodding off on Vaporeon's back before I felt her push off onto something. I looked up to see the large island. Its giant volcano mounded on top. I rolled off of her and hit the soft sand. My foot felt strange though. I looked down to see a magikarp hooked to it.

"Get off me!" I shook my foot violently, tossing the magikarp back into the ocean.

"Poreon! On! On!" Vaporeon giggled as it shook off like a wet dog.

"Yeah yeah very funny." I recalled her. "Thanks for helping me though." I looked at her ball before placing it back in my bag. "Okay now to see if I'm really right." I walked up the beach and walked over to the road ahead. There was a sign posted as I entered town. "Cinnabar Island! I was right!" I continued reading. "The hot tourist spot with the volcano to prove it?" I looked into the town. Tumbleweed rustled through it, proving my suspicions. "Looks more like a ghost town to me."

"Yes I love it like this." A man's voice startled me. I turned to see the bald man with 70's sunglasses. "During the winter season it's a bit deserted, but that's how it should be." He looked down at me. "If you look hard enough, some of the shopkeepers are still here, but they'll be packing up soon." The strange man walked up the road.

"Okay…" I walked into town. Like the man said, I was able to find a few shops that were still open, but ready to pack up and move on. I found several things on sale. I bought up some new outfits, some things for my room back home, and more. I packed them up and sent them home through the PC system. I had spent hours shopping, and walked happily to the pokemon lab just ahead. "This is a great day." I said, as I skipped through the doors.

"Can I help you?" A perky receptionist greeted me.

"Yes, I have this thing." I pulled out the yellow stone. "Some researchers in Mt. Moon told me to bring it here."

The receptionist looked shocked. "Oh my! You need to take that back there." She pointed down the hall. "Room 108B."

"Uh, okay." I walked down the hall and pushed open the door. "Hello? Is anyone in here?" A young man walked in from a room in the back. He had on a lab coat and thick glasses.

"What?" He looked at me bemused. "The public are not allowed back here. Please leave."

"But I…" I backed up a bit. "The lady at the front desk told me to come here."

The man held open the door. "She must have been mistaken."

"But I need to show you this!" I shoved the yellow stone in his face.

The man looked stunned. "My name is Doctor Collins. Come on in."

I was a bit hesitant from his sudden kindness. "Okay…"

Dr. Collins took the stone from my hand. "An excellent specimen of Old Amber."

"Old Amber?" I watched as he placed it on a tray and slid it into an odd machine.

"Yes, your pokemon will be ready in a few hours." Dr. Collins pushed a button on the machine. "You can pick it up later."

"Say what?" I asked puzzled.

"Umm… Didn't you know?" Dr. Collins looked just as puzzled. "Oh, you didn't. Well, this Old Amber is harboring an extinct pokemon. An Aerodactyl actually."

"You're kidding!" I smiled widely. "And you can get it out of there?"

Dr. Collins laughed. "Why yes, we've been able to for years now."

"That's so cool! So I can come back later and get it?"

"Yes, it should be ready in a few hours." Dr. Collin's replied.

"Okay, I'll be back then!" I waved as I walked out of the room, and out the lab. "This really has been my lucky day! I just need it to carry it on to my gym battle." I skipped once more as I headed up the path to the volcano, where I'd heard the gym was located. I walked up the path, not seeing any ways inside. The only thing I saw on the volcano's path was a small inn and hot spring. I started to walk on, but then turned and headed inside the inn. "Why not." I said to myself. "I've got the time to spare."

I walked into the inn and an older woman was asleep at the counter.

"Umm… Ma'am! Excuse me!" I called.

"Oh! Goodness!" She sat up and looked at me. "Sorry dear, checking in?"

"Yes please." I put my money on the counter. "Does that include access to the hot spring as well?"

"Why yes, certainly." The woman took my money and handed me a key. "This time of year, we don't have any customers, so there's nobody out there." She smiled. "You're welcome to it."

"Thank you." I said, putting the key in my bag. I walked back to the back, checking out my room. It looked very nice. There were two small beds, a small kitchen area, and table with two chairs. I walked back out going for the main reason I paid for. The hot spring. I walked out and felt the warm steam hit me. The chilly air made it feel wonderful. I looked around_. Not a soul. Perfect._

I set my bag down and slipped off my clothes. I reached for a towel on the shelves and wrapped it around me. I slipped my feet into the hot water, confident no magikarp would be there to bother me. I lowered into the shallow area, feeling the rocks below. I saw that just a few feet away was the deeper area. I sat down in the water and took in the moment. "This is the best." I sighed, letting my long blond hair hit the water.

**x-x-x**

The pokemon egg shook and wobbled in the bag. It turned over, and cracked on the rocky ground. It rolled around, plopping into the water. It hit the rocks below hard, cracking it even more. It rolled under the water, plummeting to the depths below.

**x-x-x**

"What?" I looked around skittishly. "Who's there?" I knew I'd heard a splash, but where? I saw my bag turned over, and ran over to it. Had a thief snuck in here? I checked the bag, noticing immediately what was missing. "The egg!" I screamed, fearing the worst.

**x-x-x**

Kyle and Arcanine walked down the hot tunnel system in the volcano.

"Great job Arcanine! We got the Volcano badge and now we're ready to move on." Kyle pet his arcanine, pleased from his newest victory. The arcanine didn't seem as happy. Instead, its ears twitched, and it stopped walking. Arcanine began digging at the side of the tunnel.

"What's up boy?" Kyle stared at Arcanine, but let him continue his digging rampage.

**x-x-x**

I began frantically checking the shallow water. I found a piece of shell under my foot, and knew where it was. I dove into the dark deep waters below. I opened my eyes to see the shells floating to the surface. I swam as fast as I could, so fast the towel around me became unhooked and floated up as well. I didn't care, I continued diving, until I caught sight of the pokemon, it was falling lifelessly. I dove deep into the spring, feeling the intense heat burn my skin. I scooped up the pokemon and rushed up to the surface. I scraped my knees on the sharp rocks as I laid it down on the ground beside my bag. "Please be okay…" I struggled to catch my breath. I began the pokemon cpr I'd learned how to do while working at the day care center. I pressed down on the pokemon's chest, and breathed heavily onto its nose and mouth. After the third pressing on its chest, the pokemon coughed and spat up some water.

"Thank goodness!" I held the pokemon up in my arms. "You're okay!"

The pokemon looked up at me curiously. "Lu?"

"Now that I can, let's get a good look at you." I set him down softly. "You're a boy, a riolu." My jaw dropped. "You're a rare thing, even in Sinnoh."

"Lu?" Riolu tilted his head and stared at me.

"Hehe!" I picked up Riolu and held him close to me. "You're pretty cute Riolu."

Suddenly I heard a digging sound and saw a hole appear in the volcano near me. I watched curiously as the paws clawed through and Kyle and Arcanine appeared in the entryway.

"Kyle?" He caught me off guard, and I stood looking at him strangely. "What are you doing here?"

I caught a blush streak across Kyle's face. He just looked at me for a while before speaking. He pat Arcanine gently, who was looking at me strangely himself.

"Well well Arcanine. I knew you liked her, but I didn't know you were a pervert." Arcanine simply turned around, looking embarrassed. "Good boy!" Kyle laughed.

"What are they talking about?" I whispered. It wasn't until Riolu pawed at my chest, that I looked down and realized how much I was… exposing myself. "Eep!" I yelped and ducked down into the water, reaching for the towel to cover up with.

I blushed madly, feeling my skin turn bright red. I wanted to be mad, yell at him, but I couldn't even speak. I held Riolu so tight to me that the baby pokemon squeaked frantically.

"Lu!" Riolu squirmed out my arms and crawled up to my shoulder.

"This looks like a nice place." Kyle walked around the hot spring teasing me. Couldn't he just go away? "Yeah, feels good." He threw down his jacket. "Mind if I join you?"

"N-No! Stay away!" I felt like my head was going to explode as I grabbed my clothes and ran for the changing room.

Kyle laughed hysterically. Arcanine merely glared at him.

"Hey don't look at me like that." Kyle grinned. "It was your idea."

"Arf." Arcanine laid down by the spring, curling up in the corner.

**x-x-x**

I put Riolu down in the small room and put on my clothes. Riolu tugged on my pant leg. I lifted him up and put him on my shoulder.

"Lu!" Riolu flopped his body across my head and pawed at my face.

"Hey you!" I swatted at his paw. "You're too cute."

I held my hand on the door handle and left it there. "How am I going to be able to go out there after that?" I sighed.

"Lu?" Riolu tilted his head and smiled happily.

"You're right Riolu." I pushed open the door. "I just need to relax. It's already happened, so I might as well get over it."

I walked out the door and heard Kyle snickering. I just walked by him, head held high. Riolu imitated me playfully. "Follow me. I rented a room for us tonight."

"Hey wait!" Kyle jumped up. "What's that pokemon?"

I turned around, trying not to look at him. I was still blushing slightly. "It's a riolu. Itn't it cute?"

Kyle reached out to pet Riolu. Riolu happily let him. Pichu crawled over Kyle's arm and sniffed the Riolu on my shoulder. I almost expected them to start fighting, but instead they playfully chased each other over my head and shoulders.

"Hey you two!" I laughed. "Cut it out."

"Where'd it come from?" Kyle asked as he took Pichu back.

"The egg silly." I pet Riolu under his chin.

"You mean it finally hatched? I didn't think it was going to there for a while."

"Yes," I looked up at the slowly appearing stars. "He must have finally found his love. The princess." I whispered.

"What'd you say?" Kyle asked.

"Oh nothing. Just talking about how much I like my new Riolu." I smiled.

Kyle looked at the Pichu in his hands. "That's so cool. All I got was this lame Pichu."

"Hey! Don't call it lame!" I yelled at him angrily.

"Well he is. He won't even battle without running to me crying." Kyle glared.

"Pi." Pichu looked depressed.

"You know, I think you're wrong about him." I defended. "I think after playing with Riolu for a while, I know how these baby pokemon work. And I'll prove it to you tomorrow, when I fight the gym leader here."

"You haven't fought the gym leader yet?" Kyle asked shocked. "I have, and I got here late. What have you been doing all day?"

I thought to myself. _Maybe I could get a little revenge in on Kyle._ "Well first I went and checked out the local hotties."

"What?" His jaw dropped.

I laughed. "I'm just kidding! I just did some shopping, and looked into the pokemon lab. Oh don't let me forget to stop in there before we leave." I turned to show him to our room.

"You know I'll never remember that." Kyle sighed as he watched me open the door. "Wow, nice room." He said as he walked in. Pichu and Riolu hopped on the bed to the right, and began play-fighting with each other.

"I got dibs on the left one!" I said as I flopped down on my bed.

Kyle looked over at Riolu and Pichu. "Well if they've got that one, I guess I'll have to share with you." He sat down on the edge.

Perhaps this shameless flirting was going a bit too far. I pushed him off the bed. "You know, you're lucky I trust you so much Kyle."

Kyle got up and sat on the other bed, moving Riolu and Pichu to the floor. "Yeah well, we have been traveling together for what? Nine monthes?"

"I dunno, it's been a while though." I snuggled up under the covers.

"Sure has." He did likewise. The room was quiet for a moment. "Hey Shonna?"

"Yes Kyle?" Riolu curled up beside me. It wasn't long until Pichu joined us, curled up against Riolu. And I wondered if what Kyle said earlier had hurt its feelings.

"You were right," He paused. "It was to the right. The only thing on the left was a bunch of icy islands."

I rolled over to face him. "Did you just say I was right?"

"Yes. I don't care to admit it." He huffed as he rolled over to sleep.

I smiled. "Goodnight Kyle."

"Goodnight Shonna."

That night, I got the best sleep I'd had in a long time.


	19. The Fiery yet Fun Fight!

**x-x-x**

Episode 19: The Fiery yet Fun Fight!

I walked confidently through the newly acquired tunnel by our hotel. No longer did I regret the convenient shortcut as I continued toward the volcano's center. We had turned in the keys to the front desk, and besides the return to the pokemon lab, all I had left to do here was get my gym badge. As we approached the gym, the heat intensified and I took off my jacket and handed it to Kyle. Pichu and Riolu maneuvered around it and resumed sitting on my shoulder. Pichu hadn't really gotten around Kyle since the incident last night.

"You taught me a few tricks at the last gym, but now it's your turn." I smiled.

"Oh really." Kyle looked skeptical. "What exactly is it you're going to teach me?"

"Just watch and learn." I stepped out into the painted line of the arena. "Hello! Gym Leader! I'm here to challenge you!"

A shadow stepped out from the tunnel system on the opposite side.

"Hey! I know you!" I smiled. "You're the man I met when I first got here!"

The bald man with the 70's glasses stepped forward. "Yes, and you're the annoying tourist. I didn't know you would end up being a trainer." The man sighed.

"My name's Shonna. I want to challenge you please." I said calmly.

"Very well, I'm Blaine. We'll have a one on one battle."

Kyle spoke up. "One on one? You fought with all your pokemon when you fought me."

"Yes yes, well." Blaine coughed. "I'm trying to spice things up. Have more fun with it. Battles have been so boring lately." Blaine sulked. "I haven't even been able to think of a good riddle in weeks." He murmured.

"It's fine by me." I chuckled. "You pick first."

Blaine halfheartedly threw out Magmar. The pokemon stood tall and blew flames from its mouth.

"Be careful Shonna!" Kyle looked serious. "That's his strongest Pokemon."

"Okay, I will!" I spoke loudly. "And I'll choose…" I looked over to my shoulder. "Pichu." I took the pokemon in my arms and walked back to the stage, putting him down. Pichu was looking antsy already, so I kneeled down to him. "Hey, don't worry. You can prove to Kyle how great you are." I looked back at him, his jaw was dropped. "Hey you don't mind if I borrow him right?"

"Uh… no. It's your funeral." Kyle stood stunned. "Great. I'm going to be here all day." He whispered under his breath.

"A Pichu?" Blaine sighed. "Great. I'm going to be here all day."

I looked down at Pichu, who in turn looked at me nervously. "Okay Pichu. See that Magmar over there?" Pichu glanced over at the ferocious monster, who snorted out flames to the ground. Pichu looked back at me with tears in his eyes. "Hey, don't cry! This isn't a battle. This is a game." Pichu just stared at me. "Okay, here's the game. It's called… Elemental Tag. You see, that magmar's going to try to hit you with his element, fire. You've got to avoid that, and not get tagged by it." Pichu smiled and shook his tail happily. "Now to counter, you have to tag him with your element."

"Pi?" Pichu looked at me confused. I could almost see in his eyes him saying, "Element?"

"Your element my little friend…" I pinched his cheeks, making him let loose some static. "Is electricity. You hit him hard with that stuff and he'll go down in no time."

Pichu looked like a light bulb had popped over his head, as he turned, and ran out into the ring. I saw Kyle raise an eyebrow as he watched.

"Let's get started then." Blaine said unenthusiastically. "Flamethrower Magmar."

Magmar blew flames that swirled around Pichu. Pichu danced and happily flipped over the flames. I grinned at Kyle, whose eyes were wide.

"Pichu! Tag him with Thundershock!" I yelled.

The yellow rodent shone with bright light and a lighting bolt struck Magmar head on. Magmar cringed, but stood firm.

"Hmm…" Blaine perked up a bit. "Let's try a couple fire punches."

Magmar held up its arms as fire surrounded its fists. It threw punches at Pichu fiercely, but Pichu back flipped to avoid each one. Once the opportunity arose, Pichu leaped onto Magmar's head and shocked him once more.

"That's the way Pichu!" I cheered. "A few more tags and you'll win the game!" I looked back at Kyle, who by now was thoroughly confused.

Pichu danced happily. "Pi! Pi! Pi!"

Blaine looked up curiously. "Magmar, Hit it with confuse ray!"

Catching Pichu off guard, Magmar threw a ray of odd light to him. Pichu just stood and looked unaffected for a moment.

"Pichu? You okay?" I asked concerned.

"Pi…" Pichu turned and stared at me, with a wild look in his eye.

"Pichu?"

Pichu ran toward me, and lunged. I held out my right hand in defense, and Pichu latched onto it, biting down hard. I winced. Riolu who was sitting on my shoulder barked at him angrily, and tried to push him off. I felt my old wound under its bandage reopen, and watched painfully as the bandage turned bright red.

"Pichu! Stop it!" Kyle screamed.

Pichu's ears twitched as he released, and dropped to the ground. He stared up at me sadly. I held onto my hand, trying to keep pressure on it.

"Shonna, are you okay?" Kyle ran up to me.

"Yeah. Yeah I'm okay." I held my hand tight.

Blaine glanced over at us. "Do you need to go?"

"No! I'm going to finish this." I grimaced.

"Well, allow me to help with that." Blaine straightened up, and actually smiled. "Magmar, you've got to hit that thing with this! Fire Blast!"

Pichu turned to spy the large, x-shaped fire that was coming toward it.

"Just remember to avoid it Pichu!" I cried.

Pichu held down its ears and ducked. The flames passed right over him. Pichu turned to look at me briefly.

"The game's not over yet. Give him the final tag Pichu!" I leaned on Kyle for support.

Pichu smiled, and ran for Magmar. Yellow electric bolts surrounded him as he tackled into Magmar. I'm not sure if he knew it, but he'd just Volt Tackled Magmar, delivering the final blow. The mighty fire type fell backward, and Blaine returned him.

Blaine walked over to me. "Young lady, you gave me a very fun battle. Sometimes battling can seem so redundant. So I thank you for making this one like a game. Even Magmar looked like he was having fun out there." He chuckled. "It gives me great pleasure to give you this Volcano Badge."

I reached out with my hand to take it, but quickly withdrew it back. Kyle took the badge and put it in my bag. Blaine and him stared at me oddly.

"That cut looks really bad." Blaine said. "Was that all from that little guy biting you?"

"No. She cut herself badly back in Fuchsia City." Kyle looked at me. "C'mon Shonna. Let's get you to the hospital."

"No, no hospital." I held my head. "I'm fine."

"You don't look so good." Kyle said worried.

I laughed. "It's just a nasty cut. But I think I need to get out of here. I'm burning up."

"There's a back way out that's much shorter. I'll show you the way, just don't tell anyone about it. I try to keep it a secret." Blaine motioned for us to follow him.

I took a few steps, feeling very weak_. What was wrong with me? _I glanced over at Kyle, and saw the concerned look on his face. It's the last thing I remember about that day.

**x-x-x**

"It's a good thing you got her in when you did. Her fever was at 106. I doubt being in that hot volcano helped anything." I heard an unfamiliar voice say.

"That's terrible. She'll be okay though, right?" Another voice…this time familiar. _Was it Kyle?_

"She's stable. You can stay with her if you'd like." I heard footsteps leaving, and another set approaching me.

"Shonna." Kyle's voice said softly. "You have to wake up." There was a long pause. For some reason I couldn't see anything. It was all black. "C'mon, if you wake up, I'll tell you how you were right all along about Pichu. You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

I couldn't be sure, but I felt something touch my hand.

"Please be okay." I heard him say. I didn't hear anything after that.

**x-x-x**

I opened my eyes slowly, feeling groggy and weak. I looked over to see Riolu sitting on the bed beside me. Kyle was asleep in a chair nearby. Pichu was curled up in his lap asleep as well. They must have made up. I smiled. I saw Riolu look up and stare at me.

"Lu!" Riolu smiled. "Lu Lu!

Kyle opened his eyes, looking tired, and sat up when he saw me watching him.

He got up and walked into the hall. "Doctor! Somebody! She's awake!"

"Good." A woman's voice carried into the room. "Ms. Dotson, how are you feeling today?" She began fiddling with some machinery and flipping through a chart.

"Like a train hit me." I said exhaustedly.

She laughed. "Well at least you're awake now. That's a good sign. I'll be back a little later to check on you and I'll work on getting the papers together so you can be discharged." Her high heels clanged against the floor as she walked away.

"Do you know where you are?" Kyle walked up to me.

"From the sterile white room, I'd gather a hospital."

"Well, grumpy. Can't blame you though." He chuckled. "Okay better question, do you know why you're here?"

I shook my head. Riolu pawed at me, and Kyle picked him up.

"The doctors say that cut you got in Fuchsia City must have been infected. You got a bad fever and passed out."

Pichu hung its head. It sat on Kyle's head sadly.

"You did great Pichu." I smiled.

"Yeah, and its not your fault." Kyle scratched the rodent's head. "Doctors said the infection had spread long before you bit her."

"Pi." Pichu still looked a little sad.

"You know," Kyle looked down at me. "I would have never thought to make battles fun for the baby pokemon. That was pretty smart." He sat Riolu back down on the bed.

I smiled weakly. "Normally I would never let you live that down. You're lucky I'm too tired."

Kyle laughed and leaned against the doorway. "Hey I'll be right back. Will you be okay for a little while?"

"Yeah I've got Riolu here to protect me." I looked over at Riolu, who was nudging me playfully. "Where are you going though?"

"Oh, just to get you some crappy hospital food." He laughed as he walked out.

"Eww." I lifted my hand to pet Riolu, before I noticed it was heavily bandaged. "I've really done it this time Riolu, I guess I should have took better care of this." I held my hand above me.

"Lu?" Riolu tilted his head inquisitively. I pet him with my left hand. "Lu!" Riolu laid down beside me. I closed my eyes and fell back asleep, for a little while. When I woke up, I looked over to see Riolu wasn't next to me. Feeling a lot better, I sat up in the bed, looking around for him. First I looked into the hall and saw Kyle talking to the doctor. I'm not sure why, but I felt a twinge of jealousy. The doctor was an attractive woman after all… though I'm sure Kyle wasn't looking at her that way. I watched him sign some papers and hand them back to her, and I wondered just what I would do, if he did find some other girl… _Other? What was I saying? It's not like I'm his girlfriend_. I blushed.

I looked over at the table to my left. Riolu was sitting there, looking at something I couldn't see behind him. "Hey Riolu, what cha got there?"

"Lu?" Riolu moved out of the way and let me see. Sitting there was pokedoll of a teddiursa. In its paws was a small bag of chocolate chip cookies. I gasped, unsure what to make of it. As I did, Kyle walked into the room.

"Oh, you're awake." I looked over to see Kyle standing in the room. He was blushing as he saw me looking at the bear. "Uh… I thought you would like that more than hospital food."

I smiled at him, almost happy enough to cry. Kyle looked at me funny.

"Umm… The doctor said you can leave anytime now." He dropped off my clothes and bag, and walked out looking embarrassed.

Riolu hopped over to the bed, and I got up and pulled over the curtain to my room. I fumbled with getting my clothes on, with only one working hand, but I managed to get dressed.

I picked up the teddy bear and pulled the bag of cookies out of its grip. I set them in my bag, to save for later. I held the bear close to me and sighed. "He really does care about me."


	20. The Legend of Shisa the Arcanine!

**x-x-x**

Episode 20: The Legend of Shisa the Arcanine!

I walked out to the waiting area and saw Kyle standing in there, looking at a painting on the wall. It had ancient drawings of the three legendary birds, and an arcanine. He turned to look at me. "Hey there. Everything's already been taken care of. So if you're ready…"

"Thank you Kyle." I smiled softly. "Thank you for everything."

"Oh… it was nothing." He looked back at the painting. "I'm glad you're better."

"You know, an older woman in Solaceon Town told me a story once about an arcanine."

"Really?" He seemed genuinely interested.

"Yes, it's kind of a long story though." I said as we walked out the sliding glass doors.

"We've got time. You can tell me on the way to the pokemon lab."

"Hey you remembered!" I laughed. "Well okay then. It all started with a boy named Chiga. He lived in a village that was on a small island, and it was plagued by an ancient sea dragon. Anyway, after a particularly bad attack on the village, the king gave Chiga a small statue of large lion-like dog. It had a rope attached to it. He told the boy to place it at the front of the village. So Chiga did. Soon enough, the waves crashed and the dragon appeared. The villager's watched the statue anxiously and hoped it would protect them. Soon a bright light appeared. The statue cracked and fell to pieces as the lion dog stood on the beach. A rope was tied around its neck. Chiga admired the animal's thick striped fur and named it Shisa. Shisa fought the dragon from the beach with bright flames and they fought there for days. Finally the dragon grabbed Shisa and drug him under the water. All the villagers assumed Shisa was dead. However, a small island appeared in the distance."

We walked into the pokemon lab, and I walked into the back room. I could tell Kyle was on the edge of his seat. "Dr. Collins? Are you here?"

"Oh, hello there." Dr. Collins adjusted his glasses.

"Hi there." I said, waiting in the doorway. "My pokemon ready? It's been a couple days, so… yeah." I laughed.

"Yes, it's right here." He handed me a pokeball. "Here you go. Enjoy."

"Thank you!" I walked out holding the ball in my left hand. "I've got too many pokemon Kyle, so would you mind if I go to a PC to store this one?"

"No, just hurry up and finish the story." Kyle pleaded.

"Okay, so come to find out, the dragon had drug Shisa down to the sea floor. Shisa released a flame that worked like molten lava from a volcano, creating the island. Shisa never reappeared, and the villagers grieved. Chiga looked at the statue, but it was no longer broken. It was perfectly intact. The dragon no longer bothered the village, and in appreciation, each villager made a Shisa statue and set it at their doorstep as their own personal guardian. But Chiga wanted more. Once he was old enough, he traveled to the island, to find out what happened. He found a large forest on the island, and a dragon shaped grove within it. Sitting on its tail was a large boulder. Chiga wondered what took place, and if the dragon had died here. As he turned to leave, he heard a howling noise and saw Shisa standing proudly on the boulder. Chiga ran up to the massive dog and saw the rope tied around its neck. It was the same one. He stayed on that island with Shisa and lived happily with it."

I put my Aerodactyl in the PC and sent it into storage. "Supposedly arcanine are the descendants of Shisa."

"If that were true, you would think my Arcanine and Gyarados would hate each other." Kyle said suspiciously.

"Well, maybe after so many generations…" I got up and walked out of the pokecenter. "I dunno. It's only a legend."

"I guess so..." Kyle and I walked down to the edge of the island. A ferry system was just up ahead. I heard an intercom system blare.

"Kanto to Sinnoh. Kanto to Sinnoh will be leaving in five minutes."

I stood at the gates to the ferry system, and didn't speak. _It wouldn't be long now, I'd be getting on that boat and going back home._

"Shonna? You alright?" Kyle nudged me.

"Yeah, just thinking about something. Looks like we just missed the ferry to Pallet town. It shouldn't take long though. Do you mind waiting fifteen minutes?"

"No, that's fine." Kyle sat down on a nearby bench. I sat down beside him. Pichu and Riolu jumped down to play with each other. I smiled as I watched them topple onto each other. I started to daze out, daydreaming, until I felt Kyle reach for my hand. I looked up at him and blushed. "I… I'm going to change your bandage." He pulled out a fresh bandage and a bottle of alcohol.

"Oh, yeah. That's a good idea." I looked back down.

"One of the nurses showed me how while you were sleeping." He gently pulled off the old bandage. I looked down at my hand and gasped. Kyle disinfected the cut and wrapped a new bandage around it.

"It looks so horrible." I groaned.

"It's not that bad." Kyle said as he fastened the bandage. "But you've got to take better care of yourself." He let go of my hand.

"I know." There was a long pause.

"Cinnabar to Pallet!" Cinnabar to Pallet Town will be arriving in five minutes." The intercom system announced.

"That's us." Kyle got up and picked up Pichu. Riolu jumped up to my lap.

"We'd better get in line then. I put Riolu on my shoulder and stood up to walk over to the ferry gates.

**x-x-x**

I felt déjà vu as we arrived in Pallet Town. Only this time I had a sweet Riolu by my side, and not an irritable Skitty. We stepped into the sleepy town, and walked right through it. Kyle seemed a little off.

"You okay Kyle? You're not talking much." I asked.

"It's nothing." Kyle looked away. "Let's just get on to Viridian."

I don't know why it didn't hit me sooner. "Oh! You live in Viridian. I forgot."

"Lived." He corrected. "Let's check out the gym first."

I looked over to see the city ahead of me. The short field we walked through was already behind us. We strolled right up to the gym, and I noticed that there seemed to be nothing different about the place from the last time I was here. Kyle pulled on the door hard. It was locked.

"It's still locked? But why? It was like that when I came through months ago." I asked.

"I don't know." Kyle looked like he was thinking. "What can we do about this? We need that badge."

"I'm not sure, but I think I might know someone who could help." I smiled, as I motioned for Kyle to follow me to the pokecenter.

We walked in, and I sat at a PC in the corner. I dialed the number I dug out of my purse. Within moments, Erica appeared on the monitor.

"Hey Shonna! I've been waiting for you to call." Erica looked a little mad.

"Sorry…" I laughed sheepishly as I held up my injured hand. "I've been a little busy."

"Oh gosh! What happened?" Erica stared wide-eyed.

"I cut my hand bad in Koga's gym."

"That Koga. He's going to get his gym license revoked if he keeps letting trainers get hurt in his gym." Erica shook her head unhappily. "Oh what's that pokemon on your shoulder? It's adorable!"

"Isn't it though?" I pet Riolu's head. "It's a Riolu."

"It's so cute!" Erica squealed.

I heard Kyle cough loudly behind me.

"I see he hasn't changed any." Erica laughed.

"Heh, yeah. There was a reason I called you though."

"Oh, tell me then." Erica sat closer to the screen.

"Well you see, there's this gym in Viridian City, and as far as we can tell, it's been locked up tight for about a year."

"That doesn't sound right." Erica got up to check a book she brought back to her chair. "Tell you what, I found the number for the league's gym inspectors. Just like anything else, we have to be up to code. Every two years or so, a guy comes around to my gym. I'll call them and let them know about that."

"That would be great Erica." I glanced over at Kyle. He nodded in agreement. "How long do you think it'll take for him to get here?"

"The Indigo League isn't far from Viridian. I'd say he'll be there in an hour or so."

"Sounds good to me." I smiled. "Thanks so much for this." I clicked the off button on the PC to cancel the call. I looked over Kyle, who was staring at the ground. "Looks like we got some time to kill. You wanna lead the way?"

"I guess I gotta get it over with." He sulked.

"Yeah. You don't want Officer Jenny chasing after you for the rest of your life."

He chuckled. "That's true."


	21. The Family Reunion and the Final Battle!

**x-x-x**

Episode 21: The Family Reunion and the Final Gym Battle!

I heard screaming children and a loud television as we stood outside Kyle's house. Kyle stood there at the doorstep for a long time before finally lifting his fist to knock on the door. A woman with frizzy blond hair and thick glasses answered the door.

"Bout time you gave up and came home." She held a baby girl on her hip. "Get on in here and help watch the kids." She turned to walk into the house.

"No Mom. I'm not staying, so you'll just have to find time to talk to me." Kyle looked tense.

The woman turned and stared at him. "Well, go ahead and say what you've got to say."

"I'm not giving up. I'm going to get my last gym badge, and compete in the Indigo League. I've already come a lot farther in this then you ever expected." Kyle said flatly.

I spoke up. "And he's a very good trainer ma'am. One of the best I've seen."

Kyle smiled at the compliment, but the woman simply gave me a look. She didn't acknowledge me and instead turned back to Kyle.

"And then what will you do when you lose the Indigo League huh? I'll tell you what you'll do. You'll come running back home, and return back to your old job, old life. Can't you see this is all just a big waste of yours, and my time?"

Kyle frowned. "Since when is my happiness a waste of time Mom?"

There was a long silence. The baby in Kyle's mother's arms began flailing and wailing.

"Do what you want. You already have anyway." She snarled. "What do you want from me? Money?"

Kyle bit his lip angrily. "No, I don't need any money. I just want you to drop this ridiculous manhunt for me. I'm not running away, I'm on a pokemon journey."

Mrs. Gray finally looked tired of arguing. "Fine. Just go finish it and get back here Kyle." She glared at us before shutting the door.

I looked up at Kyle, I couldn't tell if he was sad or happy. I was proud of him for standing up to her, but didn't say so. "When you are done, are you coming back home?"

Kyle glanced over at me slowly. "I guess we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

**x-x-x**

"I wonder if that gym inspector has come by yet?" I asked as I twisted the doorknob to the gym. The door opened. "I guess so." I smiled as we walked into the gym. It was dark. Too dark. I felt around the walls to try to find my way around. "Hey can you see anything Kyle?" As I asked this, Pichu lit up the room, revealing tall crates stacked high to the ceiling. There were few gaps in the crates, but we followed the makeshift path, trying to find our way to the leader.

**x-x-x**

"Boss! Mr. Giovanni!" The Rocket member approached the man, who was dressed like a mafia member.

"Yes, what is it?" Giovanni adjusted the bandanna wrapped around his prisoner. The man squirmed in the tight grip of the ropes.

"Sir! We're ready to take the crated pokemon and get out of here whenever you are, but…"

"It's a real pity. This gym made a great secret base, and an easy way of capturing new pokemon. Too bad someone had to go and report us to a gym inspector." Giovanni lit up a cigar and stuck it in his mouth.

"Sir!" The Rocket trembled. "That's not all sir."

Giovanni turned to face the man. "Well, spit it out already!"

"Eep!" The Rocket stepped back. "Well Boss, I'm afraid I forgot to lock the door back after the inspector… and two kids snuck in. We picked them up on the monitors. They're headed back here now.

"Insolent Fool! You're going to ruin our plan!" Giovanni shouted. "I'll deal with those kids. You go lock that door!"

**x-x-x**

Kyle and I wandered through the maze of crates, hitting dead ends and turning around several times. Along the way, we thought we heard strange noises, like whimpering. We ended up back at the door we started at and thought it may be best to report this, but when we tried to leave, the door wouldn't budge.

"That's weird." Kyle said as he tugged on the doorknob. He looked back at me. "It's no good. We're trapped in here."

"You're kidding." I said, holding Riolu tight to me. "Guess we'll have to find the gym leader then."

We wandered around the maze again, eventually finding a path we hadn't come across before. We followed the path into a large open room. We stopped when we saw a man with thick-rimmed glasses and a league uniform. He was sitting in the floor with rope binding him, and a bandana stuck in his mouth.

I ran over to him, going to help, when a man stepped out of the shadows. He walked calmly between us, and glared up at me.

"Are you the gym leader?" I glared back at him. Riolu let out a low growl from my shoulder.

"My, I don't do well at making a good first impression, do I?" The man looked scary in the dark, and the only light I could see him by, was the bright tip of his cigar. He lifted his hands and clapped. The lights came on from the back in a neat order. But it made me wish I had known that was all it took to get the lights on.

"No, you don't seem to do well with introductions either." Kyle stepped forward.

"Forgive me for that. My name is Giovanni. I am the Viridian City gym leader."

"You're the gym leader?" I looked around at the tied up gym inspector, and the crates around the room labeled "Fragile: Pokemon" I frowned, knowing the whimpers earlier were from pent up pokemon. "What kind of operation are you running here anyway Giovanni?"

"You children are much too young to understand the meaning behind Team Rocket." Giovanni snickered.

"You're the leader of Team Rocket too?" Kyle clenched his fists together. "How did you get to be a gym leader?"

"It's simple really. So simple a child much like yourself could be one. You merely need to show good skill with a certain type of pokemon, and fill out a lot of paperwork."

"Well no matter what, I'm going to challenge and defeat you." I walked up to him, pulling a pokeball out of my bag. "Go Duchess!"

The cat pokemon popped out of the ball and stared down Giovanni. I was sure then, that the pokemon knew how evil he was too.

Giovanni stared at Duchess, looking intrigued. "Persian are a wonderful species, aren't they? I just adore mine." Soon, a persian appeared behind Giovanni.

"Rrrrooooww!" The persian meowed.

"Hssssss!" Duchess hissed at the other persian.

Kyle stepped back to observe the battle, and I got ready to fight it.

"Duchess! Slash attack!" The pair of persian locked claws and scratched at each other wildly.

"This should make an interesting match." Giovanni pulled out the cigar and let a puff of smoke into the air.

"It should, but there's something that's going to be a severe disadvantage to your persian." I grinned.

"What's that?" Giovanni asked angrily.

"It's a boy." I chuckled. "Now Duchess! Attract!"

Duchess let down her claws to the persian, and rubbed against him playfully. She rubbed her tail under his chin, and gently licked his fur. He was love struck in seconds.

"What?" Giovanni smashed the cigar in his hand.

I simply laughed. "Finish him Duchess."

Duchess let loose a string of attacks on the persian. It toppled over and fainted in minutes.

"A more powerful persian. I'll have to make it mine." Giovanni sneered.

A wooden crate dropped onto Duchess and was quickly lifted by some mechanism. It was placed onto one of the boxes nearby.

"What did you do?" I shouted. "Give Duchess back!"

"I stole your pokemon. And I'll feel free to do so as much as I like." Giovanni threw his crushed cigar to the ground and grinned.

"You can't do that!" Kyle ran up to me.

"Right!" I yelled. "That's against the rules!"

"You foolish children. You should have learned by now that I don't play by the rules!" He screamed as he threw out his other pokemon; a nidoking and a nidoqueen.

"Well if he uses two…" Kyle grinned as he looked over at me.

"Then we will too." I smiled back as I chose my next pokemon.

"Go Arcanine!" Kyle called.

"And Go Ponyta!" I cried.

The two fire types stood tall and glared at the Nidoroyalty. They didn't seem intimidated, and only glared back.

"Nidoking, Nidoqueen! Poison Sting!"

Me and Kyle were both a little flabbergasted by the seemingly weak attack, but once we saw the hundreds of powerful poisonous barbs shooting toward us, we reacted quickly.

"Arcanine Dig!

"Ponyta Bounce!"

Arcanine ripped into the floorboards and under the soft Earth below. Ponyta leaped high into the air to avoid the attack.

Giovanni snickered. "Nidoking! Earthquake!

The ground shook and me and Kyle fell to the ground. Arcanine whimpered from underground, taking hefty damage. Ponyta, crashed into Nidoking with the Bounce attack, luckily cutting it short.

Arcanine leaped out of the hole, shaking off the dirt.

"Show your Frustration Nidoqueen!" Giovanni called, and Nidoqueen angrily pumped up and rammed into Ponyta, knocking it down.

"Sheesh." I stood. "Your pokemon must really hate you Giovanni." I watched Ponyta get up and run back toward us. Nidoqueen and Nidoking began thrashing toward us. I motioned to Kyle, and he nodded back.

"Flamethrower!" We called, and Ponyta and Arcanine stood side by side and let out a mass of flames. The blue and red flames swirled together and made a beautiful flamethrower combination that hit the Nidopair head on. They were burnt and weak, and fell to the floor defeated.

We heard a crashing in of the entry door nearby, and sirens outside the building. A voice in the back of the building called out. "Police!"

"Shoot." Giovanni said under his breath. As we turned to see if the police could figure out the maze, Giovanni hopped out of the only open window. We chased after him, but it didn't matter. We looked out the window and saw the police had surrounded the building. Jenny was outside blabbing about the rocket they caught sneaking around the gym.

Kyle chuckled. "Wow, we helped capture the Team Rocket Leader. All in a day's work, right Shonna?" He turned to face me, but I was looking at my glowing Ponyta.

Ponyta rose to be slightly taller than me, and the blue flames on his back intensified. A sharp horn grew from his head.

"A rapidash." I whispered, as I pet his fiery mane. Rapidash turned, and faced the crate with Duchess in it. He rammed into the crate, tearing into it with his sharp horn. The crate burst open, and Duchess ran to me. "Duchess!" You're okay!" I giggled and pet the cat happily. She purred in response.

Arcanine walked over to the tied up man and bit through the ropes. The man coughed as he pulled out the cloth in his mouth. Me and Kyle smiled at each other as Jenny and the other officer's entered the room.

"Kyle?" Jenny stopped in front of us. "I can't believe it."

We grinned, awaiting our praise.

"I can't believe you're in cahoots with these pokemon thieves! I knew you were bad, but not that bad!"

We fell over in shock.

"On the contrary madam!" The gym inspector spoke up. "These young folks saved me and this gym full of stolen pokemon!" He cleared his throat. "If they hadn't arrived here, I don't know what would have happened."

"Oh…" Jenny looked disappointed.

I stood and confronted Jenny. "If you'll check Officer Jenny, Kyle should be cleared of all charges, and he's no longer on your missing persons report."

"What?" Jenny looked stunned.

"That's right." Kyle said. "I'm a free man. You can't chase after me anymore. Although let's face it, you were only doing it because you thought I was hot." Kyle grinned.

"Absolutely not!" Jenny turned, looking embarrassed. "Let's get out of here, we got our man." Jenny and the other officers left, taking Giovanni and the Rocket into custody.

"So, what now?" Kyle looked at the inspector.

"Well," The inspector answered. "We'll find the homes for the pokemon captured here, and work on finding a replacement gym leader right away. We are sorry that no one checked up on this sooner, but thank you both for the help."

"But…" I looked around sadly. "What about our badges?"

"Lu!" Riolu leaped off my shoulder and pawed at a smaller crate in the corner. Something was shining inside. I walked over and saw the crate full of Earth badges. I picked one up, and added it to my collection. Kyle did likewise.

"Guess we're ready then." Kyle said, returning his Arcanine.

I returned Duchess and Rapidash. "Yes, ready for the Indigo League!"


	22. Let the Training Begin!

**x-x-x**

Episode 22: Let the Training Begin!

"C'mon Kyle!" I yelled. "Can't you go faster than that?"

"Give me a break!" Kyle held tight to Arcanine's fur. "You're on what's known as one of the fastest pokemon in the world."

I giggled. "True, and I love it!" We rode, leaping over logs effortlessly; Kyle on Arcanine, and me on Rapidash. We quickly arrived at the small town made for the Indigo Plateau. This town was made entirely to cater to the trainers who decide to challenge the Elite Four. The food in the restaurants is free to trainers, and there are rooms available for them for no charge. We signed up at the registry, and found our room. It was smaller than the one I rented in Cinnabar, but it was fine. We set all our stuff in the room, and had a look around. I knew this would be our home for the next two months, and I was prepared for it, until I really thought about it. I watched Kyle get set up and unpack some things from his backpack, and suddenly felt like a married couple. I don't know why. There were plenty of other trainers that traveled with other people, but it just seemed strange.

"Well, I'm ready whenever you are." Kyle tossed the key in the air and caught it in his hand.

"Ready for what?" I set the teddiursa doll on my bed.

"To train. What? Did you think the next two months would be a vacation?" He stood in the doorway.

"Well no… I just didn't think we'd start on the first day." I followed Kyle, and stood next to him.

"Of course!" He walked out and waited for me to exit. "You wanna win, don't cha?"

"I suppose so." I looked around, and found a park nearby. "If we go past the park there's probably a couple places we can train."

"Probably." Kyle locked the door and we walked through the park. It was beautiful, and there were all kinds of pokemon around. We walked past a pecha berry tree, and Riolu reached up to grab one. He munched on the berry happily. Kyle grabbed one and gave it to Pichu as well. Just up ahead was an empty field.

"Up there's where we'll battle." Kyle took a pokeball out. "How's two on two sound?"

"Fine by me Kyle." I readied a pokeball as well.

"Okay then, go Pidgeot!" The bird flew in a loop around us.

"A Pidgeot? Your Pidgeotto evolved." I smiled, happy for him.

"Yeah, she did during the fight with Blaine." Kyle smiled back. "What will you pick?"

"I'll pick…" I threw out Vaporeon.

Vaporeon and Pidgeot stared each other down.

"Pidgeot, Wing Attack!"

Pidgeot dove in, striking into Vaporeon. Vaporeon fell on her side, and watched as Pidgeot came back after her.

"Vaporeon!" Water Pulse!"

Vaporeon sprayed water from its mouth. The water soaked Pidgeot and she stopped flying to shake off.

"Pidgeot, Mirror Move!" Kyle called. I thought I heard him say, "This is going to be cool."

Pidgeot opened her beak and water poured out. Vaporeon simply absorbed the water happily.

"Vaporeon absorbs water attacks and turns it into hp!" I smiled. "Vaporeon! Ice beam!"

Vaporeon opened her mouth and released this time a bright blue light. It froze Pidgeot on contact.

"I guess that was a mistake on my part." He recalled Pidgeot. "You learn something new everyday though, right?" He released Dratini, who slithered through the grass.

"I guess." I said, not letting the victory get to my head. "Vaporeon! Bite!" Vaporeon ran after the dratini.

"Dratini! Agility!" The dratini slithered with extreme speed. Vaporeon wasn't able to catch it. "Now Dratini Slam it!" Dratini whirled around and tackled into Vaporeon. Vaporeon fainted.

"Wow! You've really trained your Dratini." I commented. As I said this, a light surrounded Dratini. Small wings developed on her head, and a blue jewel appeared on her neck. "To where she turned into a Dragonair! Okay, guess I'll pick a good pokemon to fight that. Go Butterfree!"

I heard Kyle chuckle. "Dragonair! Twister!"

Butterfree floated high in the air, and a small tornado swirled toward her knocking her around. "Butterfree! You've got the power, blow it back at her with Silver Wind!" I cried. Butterfree broke free of the twister and blew it back with silver particles that swirled in it. The twister hit Dragonair back, and the silver dust cut into her. Dragonair fainted.

"Not bad." Kyle returned Dragonair. "Using a combination to throw back a dragon type move at Dragonair proved very effective. I'll have to remember that one."

"I beat you?" I returned Butterfree happily.

"Yeah?" Kyle laughed. "Tell you what, instead of prize money, how about I take you out?"

"Umm… what do you mean?" I blushed.

"Yeah. C'mon, we'll go to that restaurant over there." He motioned for me to follow him to the restaurant.

"Hey wait a minute… the restaurants around here are free!" I yelled as I ran after him.

**x-x-x**

Kyle and I had a good time at the restaurant. We got all we could eat at a buffet, and filled up. I was surprised at just how much Kyle could eat, for guy who was so skinny. We left full, and arrived happy at our room. Kyle went to go take a shower, so I took the opportunity to use the PC in the corner. I called home and was greeted by Mom's cheery face on the screen. Delcatty sat beside her.

"Hello honey!" She pet on Delcatty. "You haven't called in a while. I was getting worried!"

"Sorry Mom." I shrugged. Riolu gave me a funny look as he readjusted on my shoulder. "I've been so busy. I got all my badges though!"

"Already? It seems like just yesterday when you left." Mom smiled. "But I suppose that's good. It means you'll be coming home soon."

I looked down sadly. I don't know why I was, I guess I was having too much fun. But I knew it had to end sometime. I heard Mom gasp, she had a shocked look on her face. I looked into the mirror behind her and saw myself in the reflection. Behind me, was Kyle, walking by with only a towel wrapped around his waist.

"Shonna!" Mom got closer to the screen. "Was that a naked man with you?"

"No…" I acted calm. "What are you talking about?"

"I'm certain, I saw a naked man in your room!" Mom glared at me angrily.

"You're crazy." I glared back. "How would you know anyway? You, Uncle Flint, and Brock… you all keep your eyes closed all the time!"

"Oh…" Mom turned away. "Well, I suppose I can't be sure."

"You know me better than that Mom." I laughed.

"Yeah that's true." She laughed. "That was a silly idea."

I yawned. "I better go, I'm ready to go to bed."

"Okay honey. Good luck in the Indigo League!"

"Thanks Mom. Talk to you later." I canceled the call, and immediately turned to see Kyle sitting at the table, eating a bowl of cereal. "What the heck do you think you're doing?"

"Eating Cereal?" He slurped down the milk.

"You scared my poor mom to death and made me look bad." I stood, with my hands on my hips.

"Yeah well, you'll be all right." He walked off, towel and all.

"Ugh." I sighed, and walked into the bedroom. I took Riolu in my arms and laid down on my bed. Pichu waited patiently on Kyle's bed. "Only two more months y'all. Two more months until the big tournament."


	23. Good Luck, and Goodbyes!

**A/N: Please continue on after this chapter to Part 2: The Lost Chapters.**

**x-x-x**

Episode 23: Good Luck, and Goodbyes!

The training continued, and two months felt like days as the Indigo League Tournament day finally came. So many trainers gathered to challenge the Elite Four, that they are forced to have a preliminary tournament to select who gets to challenge them. I didn't know just how good we were until that day. Me and Kyle moved up the ranks quickly throughout the week. We cheered each other on whenever we weren't fighting our own battles. As the finals approached, I watched the board that determined our opponents. I was taken by surprise when I saw my next opponent. Kyle appeared next to me on the screen. I guess I should have expected it. With it being the final four and all, but I still felt anxious as I took my stand in the large arena.

"Our next challengers taking the stage are Kyle Gray and Shonna Dotson! We've watched these trainers fight effortlessly to get to the final four, and now their skills will truly be put to the test as they battle each other for a position in the finale!" The announcer sounded very excited as he spoke to the crowd. "Our field this time will be a rock field!" I watched the stadium ground lift to reveal a rocky surface. I looked over nervously at Kyle, who looked pretty confident. "Now! Let the battle begin!"

"Go Rapidash!" I threw out the gleaming horse and his tall flames burned brightly.

"Go Pidgeot!" Kyle's pidgeot flew around the stadium, stretching out her wings.

"Oh my! What beautiful pokemon!" The announcer blared. "Those bright blue flames, and those clean feathers! You can certainly tell these pokemon have been well taken care of folks! But Kyle will be at a disadvantage with a flying type! Let's hope he has a good strategy to compensate!"

"Pidgeot! Give it a good gust!" Pidgeot's wind hurled rocks from the ring at rapidash, smacking them into him.

"Rapidash! Use flamethrower to melt them!" Rapidash released flames that melted the small rocks Pidgeot chucked at him. Pidgeot flew up and avoided the blast.

"Pidgeot!" Wing attack!" The bird swooped down, twirling around and striking into Rapidash. Rapidash stumbled, but stood firm.

"Uh oh folks! Looks like Rapidash is taking a beating! Kyle could win this one after all!" The announcer put extra worry in his voice for emphasis.

"Pidgeot! Finish it with a whirlwind!" Kyle shouted. Pidgeot flapped her wings wildly, creating a twister on the arena. I knew if Rapidash hit that, he'd be done for.

"Rapidash! Fire Spin!" Rapidash kept his distance, but ran in circles around the tornado, releasing giant flames into it. The tornado swirled around ablaze, and hit Pidgeot above it. Pidgeot was severly burned, and barely able to stay in the air. "Now Rapidash! Bounce!" Rapidash ran at top speed, leaping off a high rock into the air, striking Pidgeot with his sharp horn. Pidgeot fainted and began plummeting to the ground. Kyle recalled her before the impact.

"Amazing! It looks like being in the air wasn't an advantage after all! Rapidash struck Pidgeot in midair!" The crowd cheered, making me feel pretty good.

"Go Umbreon!" Kyle threw out Umbreon onto the stage. "Use Bite!"

"Use Stomp Rapidash!" The two pokemon ran for each other. Rapidash lifted his front hooves, to bring them back down on Umbreon, but he dodged, getting underneath Rapidash and biting hard into his back leg. Rapidash fell to the ground, too injured to battle, and I recalled him. "Go Duchess!" I threw her out and she stood tall on a large rock. Umbreon looked determined, but I was about to wipe that smirk right of his face. Kyle saw my confidence and looked at me pleadingly. I grinned.

"Don't let her do it Umbreon! Shadow Ball!" Kyle cried.

"Breon!" Umbreon threw balls of dark energy at Duchess. Duchess was hit, but took it gracefully as she shook off the pain.

"Duchess! Attract!" I yelled, and I watched as Kyle slapped his forehead in annoyance.

"Mrrroww!" Duchess only had to wink at Umbreon to have him under her spell. Umbreon stared with hearts in his eyes, mouth agape.

"C'mon Umbreon! Snap out of it!" Kyle called. To his displeasure, Umbreon only continued staring.

"Duchess! Slash!" I watched as she reared back her claws and thrust them at Umbreon. The powerful attack, coupled with the crippling love sickness had Umbreon knocked out.

Kyle grumbled something before raising his voice. "Go Arcanine!"

"Well folks!" The announcer called out. Seems we have one very vivacious vixen of a persian out there! And according to our information, this Arcanine is a male as well. We've seen this strong pokemon pull out of a lot of tough spots, but will it be able to escape the grasp of love?"

"We'll find out." I said slyly. I almost felt bad about this. "Duchess! Attract once more!" Duchess trotted over to Arcanine and rubbed against his legs. Arcanine stood happily as it remembered sweet memories of when he had rescued her as a young meowth. He seemed to smile a goofy smile as he fell under her trance.

"No!" Kyle yelled. It was too late. Arcanine stood love struck as Duchess slashed at him. I noticed that she wasn't putting everything into it though, and even she didn't look happy about it. "Arcanine! C'mon boy! You can't let some fake romance get between our friendship! You know you're not going to let that happen, right?" Kyle gripped onto the railing as he looked down on Arcanine.

I watched, but to my horror, Arcanine took his eyes off Duchess, and looked back at Kyle, no longer in love.

"Arf?" Arcanine barked.

"Good Boy!" Kyle smiled. "Now let's get her with flamethrower!"

Arcanine leaned back, a large ball of fire growing in his mouth.

"Uh oh. Duchess! Dig to avoid it!" I cried. Duchess dug underground, but the hard rock was rough on her claws, and it took her a while to break through. The end of her tail caught the blaze. The burn hurt her as she continued digging.

"You call that digging?" Kyle laughed. "Arcanine! Show them a real Dig attack!"

Arcanine quickly tore into the ground, and burrowed underneath. There was a brief pause as we both watched the ground nervously. Soon, it broke in the center, and Duchess was tossed into the air by the force of Arcanine's mighty paws. She fell to the ground with a thud. Arcanine leaped out and stood above her. He had won, but didn't look too happy about it. Duchess licked at his paw, letting him know she was okay. I recalled her.

"What a turn of events!" A buzzer went off, and the announcer continued. "The true friendship between a man and his pokemon showed through today in that amazing battle! But you know what that sound means! It's time to switch fields!" Arcanine backed up as the floor collapsed and raised to reveal a large pool. Arcanine hesitantly hopped onto one of the pedestals in the middle. "Oh! It's a water field! That could be a problem for Kyle's fire type pokemon!"

"A water field." I pondered on that for a moment, before releasing Pikachu onto the field. She hopped onto a nearby platform and looked around at the crowd cutely.

"Great." Kyle watched nervously as Arcanine struggled to stand on the small platform. "Try a Flamethrower from where you are Arcanine!" Arcanine released a wave of flames at Pikachu.

"Dive underwater!" I cried. Pikachu dove under, avoiding the flames completely. "Now Slam it!" Pikachu swam under the water and popped up, knocking Arcanine into the pool. The dog whimpered and whined as it hit the water. "And give it a good Thunderbolt!" Pikachu charged up under the water, letting off a ton of electricity that shocked Arcanine good. I saw Kyle looking unsure of what to do. He pushed the button on the pokeball around his neck, returning him.

"I won't put Arcanine through any more of that." He said sternly. He glanced over at Pichu and nodded. The furry yellow rodent hopped down onto one of the platforms.

"Pi!" Pichu smiled.

Pikachu climbed onto the platform with him and looked back at me strangely. "Cha!" She whined.

"You've got to be kidding me." I sulked.

"Pichu! Go ahead and play with your mommy!" Kyle laughed, somewhat maniacally.

"Pi!" Pichu giggled as it pushed Pikachu off the pedestal and into the water. He happily let off sparks that, unbeknownsed to him, were hurting his mom.

"Pi-Ka!" Pikachu stood there soaked as she looked up at me. I knew she would never fight back.

"This is certainly a twist of events folks!" The announcer sounded surprised. "Well, if the pokemon refuses to fight, it will have to be returned."

I did so, and sighed. "Well, That wasn't very fair. But I'm better than that Kyle."

"What? You call making all my pokemon fall in love with yours fair? I certainly didn't think so." He snapped.

I laughed. "Well, either way, I'll choose Riolu." I motioned for Riolu to go to the stage. Riolu hopped down from my shoulder and onto one of the platforms. "Alright you two, have fun play-fighting." I chuckled, knowing this wouldn't be much of a battle.

Pichu and Riolu happily tackled each other on the slippery platforms. They pushed each other off, and into the water. Pichu let off a slight amount of discharge that was just enough to give Riolu a good shock. Riolu hopped out, and onto a platform.

"Luuuu!" It whined.

"Pi?" Pichu crawled up onto the platform with him, unaware of what he'd done.

"Lu!" Riolu angrily walked over to Pichu and hit him across the face with his paw. A bright blue surrounded his paw when he did so.

"Was that a Force Palm attack?" I leaned over the railing excited.

"Pi… Chaaaaa!" Pichu started crying loudly.

"Ri?" Riolu teared up as well. "Luuuuuu!"

"Awww…" I motioned for Riolu to come back, and saw Kyle do likewise for Pichu, they sat on our shoulder's sniffling, and we comforted them briefly.

"Well uh… I'm not sure what to make of that one." The announcer stuttered. "But! It looks like the baby pokemon just might be too young for a battle like this. I'm going to call them unable to battle." The referee agreed. "It was still a very cute spectacle though!" He laughed. Some of the crowd was still cooing.

"Well, I guess I'll pick Butterfree next." I threw out Butterfree, who twirled around me briefly before floating over the ring.

"Heh," Kyle smirked. "You're going to have a tough fight then. Come on out Gyarados!" The beast leaped into the pool, taking up a majority of it.

"Gyarados. I haven't actually seen Kyle battle him much." I said to myself. "But he looks pretty strong. Butterfree, first off, spread a poisonpowder!"

Butterfree spread his wings and shook off the purple dust. It coated Gyarados.

"Gyarados! Wash it off!" Kyle called. Gyarados dove underwater, removing most of the powder, leaving it only slightly poisoned. "Now Gyarados! Hydro Pump!" Gyardos raised his head and water pumped out in a huge stream.

"Butterfree! Dodge it and use Psychic!" I called. Buterfree barely dodged the hydro pump, but used his psychic abilities to stop the water in its tracks. As Gyarados eyed the still jet stream, Butterfree lifted a platform behind him, and thrust it toward Gyarados.

"Look out Gyarados! Behind you!" Kyle cried. The sea dragon had just enough time to turn and see the hurled platform. He lifted his tail and smashed into it, breaking it into chunks. "That was close." Kyle took a deep breath. "You've got to be on guard Gyarados! She's trained that Butterfree to have excellent psychic abilities!"

I didn't know whether to take that as a compliment or not. "Butterfree! Don't give up! Use Silver Wind!" I watched as Butterfree got above the still frozen in place water, and flapped his wings with sharp silver flakes that flew into the water. She pushed it down on Gyarados, but it didn't hurt him much.

"We've got to end this. Gyarados! Flamethrower!"

"What? Flamethower?" I gasped. Gyarados held his head high and blew flames into the air that engulfed Butterfree. The super effective attack fried Butterfree, and I recalled him. "But how?" I wondered. "How did he teach a water type flamethower?" My mind wandered back to when we traded in for all those TMs in Celadon. "That's it! I assumed he used the Flamethrower TM on Arcanine, but he didn't. He must have used it on Gyarados." I saw Kyle smiling at me as I stood stunned.

"That was pretty smart Kyle." I threw out Pikachu, who still had some strength left.

"Pi! Pika!" Pikachu struggled to stand on the remaining slippery platform. I looked around the pool. Only one large platform, and a bunch of floating chunks. This would be difficult.

"Gyarados! Get it with Ice Fang!" Gyarados's fangs lit up as it swam after Pikachu with his jaws wide open. Pikachu looked around helplessly.

"Pikachu! Jump the pieces with Quick Attack!" I watched as Pikachu built up speed and gracefully hopped from chunk to chunk across the pool, getting behind Gyarados. Gyarados toppled into the water, and looked around confused. "He doesn't see you! Quick Pikachu! Thunderbolt!"

"Pikaaaa-Chuuu!" Pikachu crashed a thunderbolt down into the pool, striking Gyarados hard. "Chaaa…" Pikachu smiled before fainting, too tired to continue. I returned her.

"Last one…" I held the pokeball tight, before throwing it out into the stage. "Go Vaporeon!" I smiled as I watched Vaporeon submerge under the water, becoming seemingly invisible in it.

"Gyarados! You could win this right now with Dragon Rage!" Kyle cried. Gyarados glowed, angry red and blue flames poured out from his jaws, and they flew through the water. However, unable to be sure of Vaporeon's presence, the attack missed.

"Thank goodness." I let out a sigh of relief. "Vaporeon! Freeze the whole pool with Ice Beam!" Vaporeon leaped out of the water, revealing herself and letting loose a powerful ice beam that froze the pool within seconds.

"No way!" Kyle held tight to the railing. Only Gyarados's head stuck out of the frozen water. "Well, that's all we need. Gyarados! Melt it with Flamethrower!" Gyarados began releasing flames that slowly began melting the ice around him.

"Don't let him do it Vaporeon! Water pulse!" Vaporeon landed on the ice and poured water from her mouth to the fire from Gyarados's. The flames and her water moved back in forth in a show of strength, but eventually the water won out and extinguished the flames. "Now he's a sitting duck Vaporeon! Bite!" Vaporeon slid over to Gyarados and bit hard into his scaly skin. Gyarados roared in pain and gave in from the poison that had finally put him to an end. His head fell over with a thud, cracking the ice beneath it.

"This is simply amazing folks! The announcer called out. "I've never seen anything like this! Our water field is now an ice field and that strong Gyarados was brought down by Shonna's last pokemon, Vaporeon! Kyle still has his Arcanine, and another pokemon left, so what will he choose?"

Kyle threw out Arcanine without a second thought.

"What's he thinking?" I said to myself. "Arcanine's pretty weakened, and there's no way it'll stand up to a water type."

"Arcanine. Heat Wave." Kyle said calmly.

"Look out Vaporeon!" I'd never seen this attack, so I knew we had to be careful.

Arcanine released a surge of hot flames that surrounded the entire ring. The ice beneath Vaporeon fell through and melted almost immediately. Only a few chunks of ice remained floating in the pool after that devastating attack. "Great. He wasn't aiming for Vaporeon at all. He just wanted to turn it back into a water field. But why? Arcanine won't be able to fight at all here now."

Kyle recalled Arcanine and threw out Dragonair. The beautiful snake like pokemon swam gracefully under the water.

"Oh…" I frowned. "That's why."

"Dragonair! Shake it out with Twister!" The Dragonair swam in circles quickly, creating a cyclone that flew through the water. Vaporeon was tossed into the air, swirling around in the storm, exposed now that she was out of the water.

"Umm Uh…" I watched nervously. "Vaporeon! Ice beam!" Vaporeon shot an ice beam at the water, but instead of freezing the pool, the ice swirled up the twister, and eventually froze Vaporeon in place.

"This is it." Kyle smiled. "Dragonair! Hyper Beam!"

"Oh no!" I watched helplessly as Dragonair took aim at my frozen Vaporeon, and the powerful beam it released shattered the frozen twister, hitting Vaporeon and instantly knocking her out. I recalled her and held her pokeball in my hand for a moment. "You did great Vaporeon. I'm sorry I messed up like that." I placed the ball in my bag, and started down the stairs to the ground floor. I barely listened to the announcer, but it was impossible not to as I walked through the halls.

"That's it folks! In an amazing display of power and strategy, Kyle has won and will continue to the final battle for the chance to fight the Elite Four!"

I sat down on a bench. It had been a good while since I had lost a battle. I leaned over and sulked a bit. I hated looking like a sore loser, but it sucked.

"Shonna!" I heard his voice echo down the hall. I put on a fake smile as I stood to meet him. "Hey Shonna!" He ran up to me. "You did so great!"

I laughed. "Well, not as good as you."

"That was great though! You had me really sweating up there." He laughed. This time I smiled a real smile. I couldn't help it when I was around him. "But seriously, that was the toughest battle I've had so far."

"Really?" I smiled, feeling good about that.

"Definitely." He smiled back, and put his hand on my shoulder. "Hey, you're going to cheer me on for the next one right?"

"Yeah! I will." I nodded. "But I gotta go try to find a seat. Does it start soon?"

"In ten minutes. I have to run, need to go heal my pokemon, ya know? You really put a hurtin' on them." He laughed as he ran down the hall to the pokecenter.

I chuckled to myself. I was happy for him. _Who cares if I didn't make it? I got to fight and learn from one of the greatest trainers, who ended up becoming my friend._ I smiled at that thought as I ran the other way, searching for a seat in the stadium.

**x-x-x**

"Lu Lu!" Riolu clapped his paws together, imitating me.

"That's right Riolu!" I cheered. "He won! And now he gets to fight the Elite Four!" I watched with a big smile on my face as the first member walked up the stairs to her pedestal. The crowd cheered as Lorelei entered the room. I watched as the woman stood calmly in her light blue hair and dress. Her glasses were large and round, very different from mine and Kyles. She threw out her ice type pokemon onto the field, but between Gyarados and Arcanine, Lorelei didn't stand a chance. Her Ice pokemon were melted away by their intense Flamethrower attacks.

I stayed in my seat as the break went by quickly. Bruno walked up within moments. He was buff, disgustingly buff, and shirtless. I stuck out my tongue. Other girls around me swooned. I saw Kyle walk up to his place on the opposite end.

This battle was a bit tougher. Kyle used Pidgeot to take down Hitmonlee and Hitmonchan. Gyarados was able to hurt Onix, but dried up quickly on the Rock field. Luckily Kyle was able to use Dragonair to finish it off.

"Yay! Go Kyle!" I cheered. He waved at me as he walked off again. I saw the old woman, Agatha slink onto the stage as she waited patiently for Kyle to return. Riolu poked at me gently. I reached into my bag and handed him a cookie. The last of the ones Kyle had given me.

"Lu!" Riolu took the cookie and munched it down. I felt an odd sensation come over me, it felt odd but nice.

"Riolu?" I looked over at him, and he smiled back, crumbs on his mouth. "I've always heard Riolu can transmit their feelings to their trainer with their aura." I pet Riolu's head. "Your aura must be growing."

Agatha cackled as Kyle came back to the ring. She let out a Gengar. Kyle was careful about what moves he used, and was able to take down the Gengar with Umbreon. In fact, Umbreon took out most of her lot. Whatever it missed, Arcanine took care of. The battle looked a little tougher, but probably not as bad as our battle. I smiled. "Just one more to go." I watched as Kyle left, and another young man took a place on the opposite side. I got up to get some popcorn, and by the time I sat back down, Kyle was back at his spot. "I bet he's excited about this." I giggled.

"Okay ladies and gentlemen!" The announcer put on a serious voice. "Our challenger is back, and ready to take on Lance! This dragon-type trainer has stopped many trainers in their tracks. Let's see how Kyle does." I sat forward in anticipation and watched.

"I'm afraid this is where your winning streak will stop boy." Lance smirked.

"We'll see." Kyle smiled.

"Hmph. Awfully confident. I can change that." Lance frowned as he let out his Gyarados onto the field, which was water.

"What do you know, I have one of those too!" Kyle threw out his Gyarados. The two beasts clashed, biting and flipping over each other. They thrusted water at each other, and bit wildly. It was hard to keep track of whose was whose.

"Gyarados!" Kyle yelled. "Try Ice Fang!" Kyle's Gyarados bit down into the side of the other, freezing the area around it. The enemy Gyarados blew flames on the frozen spot, melting it.

"Ha! You didn't think your Gyarados was the only one that knew Flamethrower did you?" Lance laughed.

"No." Kyle stayed calm. "Gyarados Use Dragon Rage!" Gyardos let loose the blue flames, and Lance's wasn't able to avoid the blast. The flames whipped around and surrounded his gyarados, and the powerful attack was too much for it, as it floated up to the water, passed out. Lance didn't look worried as he recalled it. "Okay then. Try this out!" He let out an Aerodactyl who swooped over the crowd.

"Wow." I admired the Aerodactyl, wondering if mine was anything like that. It was a pity I couldn't have used it in the recent battles, but it was at too low of a level to train in time.

"Gyarados! If you can just hit it with a Hydro Pump, you'll get it!" Kyle called.

"Aerodactyl! Steel Wing!" Lance yelled.

Gyarados pumped water at the Aerodactyl, striking it. Aerodactyl painfully charged through the hydro pump and dove into Gyarados with its rough wings. Both pokemon were knocked out. They recalled them.

"Odd." Kyle held his pokeball and placed it back on his belt. "That was a kamikaze attack. Is he that overconfident?" Kyle glanced over at Lance, who was grinning widely. "Go Dragonair!"

"Oh, a Dragonair." Lance brushed his fingers through his hair. "What a coincidence. I have one of those too!" He threw out his Dragonair.

"Shoot." I tried to keep my eye on the two. "I wish they'd quit using the same ones."

"Okay Dragonair!" Kyle took a stance. "Use Slam!" The Dragonair chased after each other in the water, slithering around in the pool. Dragonair was unable to hit it.

"Use Twister Dragonair!" Lance called.

"Use it right back Dragonair!" Kyle yelled.

The two pokemon released a pair of twisters that hit and smashed into each other. The giant storm sprayed water around at us in the audience, and it was as thick as rain. The pool had lost a lot of water because of it. Eventually, the water was drained, and the mist that remained made it difficult to see the fight in the empty pool below. I watched somewhat stunned as Lance's Dragonair flopped like a fish out of water.

"Umm…" Kyle looked surprised as well. "Have you not trained the thing out of water?" He looked over at Lance who was staring down sadly. "Okay… Slam!" Kyle yelled.

Kyle's Dragonair easily knocked into the flopping Dragonair, knocking it into the pool wall, and knocking it out. Lance returned it, and laughed confidently.

"Well unfortunately for you boy, I saved the best for last." Lance pulled out a pokeball and threw it, letting out his prize pokemon, a Dragonite.

Kyle wasn't worried. Now that the pool was gone, he could use Arcanine, if he had to. He reached for Dragonair's pokeball to return him, but stopped when he saw the light. Dragonair's body completely changed as it grew to a surprising height. It became an even bigger Dragonite than Lance's.

"What?" Lance showed the first signs of being scared. "Well, no matter. Dragonite! Show it a Hyper Beam!"

"Give it right back to it Dragonite!" Kyle called. He watched happily as the pair of dragons took to the air, shooting beams at each other. Each would fly away, and shoot again. It was an amazing spectacle. "As long as his Dragonite doesn't know this, it should help." Kyle paused before yelling the command. "Dragonite! Agility!"

Dragonite sped up and flew incredibly fast, he was able to hit the other Dragonite with a Hyper Beam. The other Dragonite shook off, seemingly not hurt.

"Ha Ha!" Lance laughed. "The only way you'll take down my Dragonite, is with a powerful dragon type move. Show them what I mean Dragonite! Twister!"

A giant tornado formed in the middle of the ring, this one was much larger than any I'd seen before. It took up most of the stadium, and I had to hold onto Riolu tight.

A memory came to Kyle. From our early training. He heard me telling Butterfree about just how much power he had, and remembered the twister come back on him.

"You can do it Dragonite! Blow it back!" He cried.

The giant tornado moved slowly, and Dragonite began flapping her wings with extreme power. The tornado stopped moving, and instead turned and headed the other direction! Lance's Dragonite was sucked up in it, and swirled around violently before hitting the ground with a thud. The tornado eventually dissipated. It was over.

"Amazing!" The announcer cheered. "Kyle has beaten the Elite Four and is the new Indigo Champion!" I stood and clapped, and watched the bright smile streak across Kyle's face.

"Good for you Kyle." I said, almost inaudible in the cheers. "You deserve it." I got up and walked around the mess of people, walking down the hall to the entrance of the building. I looked down the hallway Kyle would be coming down, and saw the dozen or so reporters that surrounded him. I smiled sadly as I walked out the building. I pulled out my pokeball and released Rapidash. I hopped on his back and took off, as fast as I could make him go. I arrived in Pallet town in less than thirty minutes.

I grabbed my tickets to the ferry, and stood on the dock, waiting. I wanted so badly to turn around, go back and see him again. But I knew this would be impossible. I had to go back home. I knew I should have stayed and at least said goodbye, but it was just too hard. I turned, hearing that familiar sound, and seeing the bright red motorcycle approach. I turned back to the sea, trying to prepare myself.

"Shonna!" Kyle hopped off the bike and ran over to me. "Sheesh. You're hard to keep up with." He looked down at the tickets in my hand. "Wait… what are you doing?"

"You did really well Kyle. I'm proud of you." I looked down, my hair floated in front of my face, hiding the tears.

"Shonna…" He stood in front of me and took my hands in his. "Don't go. Come with me. I'm going to the Johto region to compete there as well."

I looked down at my feet, tears streaming down my face. "I can't. I'm sorry."

Kyle let go of my hands and stood in front of me sadly. "But what about Pichu, and Pikachu? They need to stay together right?"

"Pikachu trusts you with him now. She hasn't had a problem with us separating since our split up in Cinnabar."

Kyle remained quiet. I slowly walked around him. "Goodbye Kyle, good luck with your adventures."

"Yeah, you too Shonna." He stayed facing the other way.

I ran up the docks, tears streaming down my face as I boarded the ferry. I heard the intercom yell for last call, and it slowly began driving away. I saw Kyle turn to look at me, and Pichu wave sadly at me and Riolu. Riolu waved back, I think even they knew what was going on. I watched as they became specs in the horizon, and eventually disappeared. "Bye Kyle." I said softly. "I'll never forget you."


End file.
